Russian drone 'falls in Nato terriroty' as West on alert over escalation
President Klaus Iohannis, said that the attack, if deliberate, would be a violation of Romania’s sovereignty
Reuters/Wikimedia Commons
Romania has claimed that remains of a Russian drone fell in their territory, with the President saying the attack could be viewed as a possible act of war.
President Klaus Iohannis said that the attack, which the defence ministry is currently investigating, would be a violation of Romania’s sovereignty.
"If it is confirmed that these elements belong to a Russian drone, such a situation would be completely inadmissible and a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania and the Nato allies," Iohannis said.
Romania, a Nato member, initially rejected claims that the drone remains had been discovered on Romanian soil.
Romanian Defence Minister, Angel Tilvar, on site of alleged crash of drone with military officials
Reuters
However, yesterday their defence minister Angel Tilvar said: "I confirm that pieces which might be elements of a drone were found.”
He said that they had not called for an evacuation because the debris did not pose a threat.
Iohannis called for an investigation on the debris, to assess their origin.
The remains of a drone were found in Plauru, a small village nearing the Danube river, which flows through to Ukraine.
Ukraine reported that Russian drones has detonated on the territory of Romania.
Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba announced that he had photographic evidence of the attack.
He said it was "absolutely obvious" what had happened and that denying it was futile.
Romania is a member of Nato which entitles it to the protection of Article 5, which states that an attack on a Nato member is an attack on all members.
"We will not trigger Nato's Article 5 for this," said Romanian defence analyst Andrei Luca Popescu.
"But we are facing a war on our border, where the danger of collateral damage is very real and likely."
RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST:
Defence minister Angel Tilvar said: "I confirm that pieces which might be elements of a drone were found”
Wikimedia Commons
Tilvar told Agerpres, Romania’s national news agency, that the remains of the drone did not necessarily constitute a threat.
“I don’t think that we can talk about an attack and, as I said before, I think we need to know how to distinguish between an act of aggression and an incident,” he said.
It is currently unclear if the drone was shot down and fragments happened to land in Romania, or whether it crashed in the Nato member’s territory.
"We don't have any information indicating any intentional attack by Russia and we are awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation," said Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg.