Romania and Latvia, both NATO members and supporters of Ukraine in its 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia, are currently investigating incidents where Russian drones breached their airspace yesterday. These breaches have intensified calls for joint action to counter Russia’s increasingly frequent air incursions along NATO’s eastern flank.
In Romania, authorities detected a drone entering national airspace before exiting back toward Ukraine. The Romanian defense ministry confirmed that their radar system identified and tracked the drone’s path. Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to monitor the incident, while residents of Tulcea and Constanta counties were warned to take cover. The drone is believed to have impacted in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava, and ministry personnel are searching the area to assess any potential damage.
Latvia, which borders both Russia and Belarus, faced a similar situation. A drone breached Latvian airspace from Belarus and crashed near the city of Rezekne. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics expressed concerns on the social media platform X, calling for a collective NATO response to address the rising number of such incidents. He emphasized that the increasing frequency of these breaches along NATO’s eastern border needs to be handled collectively by the alliance.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana condemned the incidents, calling them “irresponsible and potentially dangerous.” However, Geoana added that there was no indication that the drones were part of a deliberate attack on NATO member states. Both incidents have prompted renewed discussion on how NATO can respond effectively to these airspace incursions, especially in countries close to the conflict zone.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu responded to the situation, acknowledging that Romanian territory, which lies only a few hundred meters from Ukrainian Danube River ports, has been exposed to Russian drone fragments repeatedly over the past year. He also stated that attacks near Romania’s border are likely to continue as long as the conflict in Ukraine persists. Romania’s parliament is now considering legislation that would enable the military to shoot down drones that breach the country’s airspace, even in peacetime.
In Latvia, Defense Minister Andris Spruds also commented on the incident, reiterating the need to strengthen Latvia’s eastern border and to improve air defense capabilities. Experts in the Latvian Joint Headquarters have suggested that the drone which crashed in Rezekne may not have had a specific purpose for entering Latvian airspace, though investigations are still ongoing.
Ukraine’s newly-appointed Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha took to social media to remind NATO allies that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukrainian borders. Sybiha called for continued maximum support from Ukraine’s allies in response to the ongoing airspace violations and growing security threats posed by Russian military actions.
As both nations continue to investigate, these incidents highlight the ongoing dangers posed by the proximity of the conflict in Ukraine and the necessity for a coordinated NATO approach to defend the alliance’s eastern borders from further encroachments.
Red = Russia
Orange = Romania
Blue = Latvia
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