NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed Thursday that the Romanian authorities “found remains” of a “possible” Russian drone, inside Romania, near the border with Ukraine.
“We do not have any information indicating an intentional attack by Russia,” said the NATO secretary general, who “awaits the result of the ongoing investigation.”
On Wednesday, “at the ordinary meeting” of the North Atlantic Council, the Romanian authorities “confirmed the fact and informed the allies”, Jens Stoltenberg reported, in a hearing in the European Parliament, before the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
“The remains of a possible drone were found near the border with Ukraine. The Romanian authorities informed the NATO allies (…) about all the discoveries and about the ongoing investigation, which demonstrates the risk of incidents and accidents “, Stoltenberg considered.
The NATO Secretary General refuses to draw conclusions while the investigation is underway, but understands that the increase in incidents of this type within NATO borders justifies action by the allies.
“What we have seen, obviously, is a lot of combat and also air strikes near the NATO borders and we have also had other incidents in Poland and other places,” Stoltenberg stressed, considering that “for this reason” it is necessary to increase the ” surveillance”. . “We are closely monitoring what is happening near our borders and we have also increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance,” he said.
After the Romanian authorities initially denied the fall of any Russian artifacts within the borders of its territory, on Wednesday the country’s President Klaus Iohannis criticized the actions of Moscow, which is shelling Ukrainian ports on the Danube from Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Agreement.
The Romanian president considered that it would be “a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania”, after the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, confirmed the discovery of parts of the drone in the NATO member country. .
“We covered a very large area, including the area that was being discussed in the public space and I confirm that parts that could be from a drone were found,” Angel Tîlvăr was quoted as saying by Romanian media.
If it is confirmed that the remains belong to Russian drones, it would be “completely unacceptable”, added Iohannis, who called for an “urgent and professional investigation” into the origin of the remains and why they were found on Romanian territory.
In November, NATO met urgently to discuss launching a missile in Poland. However, US President Joe Biden considered it unlikely that it originated from a Russian shot.
The incident put Romania “on alert”, but President Klaus Iohannis considers that “within NATO”, the country “is very well defended”, since Romania “enjoys extremely strong security guarantees”, which gives it the Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance. treaty, which considers that the attack on the territory of a member country is considered an attack on all.
Source: TSF
