NATO has finally responded officially to reports of Russian missiles penetrating its member country Romania. Previously, the wreckage of a drone alias drone was reported on the country’s border with Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there were no signs that Russia launched a deliberate attack against alliance member Romania. Stoltenberg said it had informed its NATO allies about the discovery and insisted it “indicates a risk of incidents and accidents”.
“We do not have any information indicating a deliberate attack by Russia and we are waiting for the results of the ongoing investigation,” NATO Chairman Jens Stoltenberg told European Union (EU) lawmakers, quoted by AFP, Friday ( 8/9/2023 ) .
“Despite these results, what we are seeing is of course a lot of fighting and also airstrikes near the NATO border,” he added.
Previously, Ukraine claimed that an Iranian-made Russian drone had crashed and exploded over Romanian territory. Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail late Sunday penetrated the country.
However, Romania is careful about this. Although Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar later made confirming comments, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said “if any part of the Russian drone is confirmed to be on Romanian territory then this is a serious violation”.
Ukraine itself has accused Romania of deliberately denying the existence of drones to avoid NATO slipping into direct confrontation with Russia. Under NATO rules, an attack on one of its members is an attack on all of its members.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently visiting Ukraine. He discussed the ongoing investigation in a phone call with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu.
“The two also discussed additional cooperation to maintain airspace security,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Since Russia’s massive invasion last February, NATO has focused on preventing the war in Ukraine from spreading to its territory.
Concerns were raised about potential turmoil in November last year when an incoming missile killed two people in Poland. However, NATO said the projectile was a Ukrainian air defense missile and was not fired by Russia.
Source : CNBC
