A drone smashed into an apartment building in NATO-member Romania early Friday, wounding two people and drawing condemnation from the Atlantic alliance and the European Union, which blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.<\/p>\n
Romania called the incident — the first drone hit on a residential building outside Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 — a “serious and irresponsible escalation” by Moscow.<\/p>\n
But Russian President Vladimir Putin said “no one can say” who fired the drone, calling for an investigation to provide “objective data” on its origin.<\/p>\n
Here is what we know about the drone crash:<\/p>\n
– What happened? –<\/p>\n
The drone hit the roof of an apartment building in the centre of the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and 53-year-old woman to hospital with injuries, officials said.<\/p>\n
Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Ukraine war, but no residential buildings had previously been hit.<\/p>\n
The Romanian defence ministry said two F-16 fighter jets had been scrambled in response to the drone, which it said had entered Romania’s airspace during Russian strikes on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
– Why wasn’t the drone stopped? –<\/p>\n
Romanian forces had insufficient time — four minutes — to shoot down the drone, General Gheorghe Maxim from the Joint Forces Command said, adding there were “no realistic opportunities to engage it safely”.<\/p>\n
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said the decision not to engage was made “because the conditions necessary to destroy it without significantly endangering the safety of the civilian population were not present”.<\/p>\n
– How has Romania responded? –<\/p>\n
Romania summoned the Russian ambassador, and Dan convened a national defence council meeting to discuss “the most serious incident to have affected our national territory” since Russia invaded Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Dan also said Romania would expel the Russian consul general in the Black Sea city of Constanta and close the mission, prompting Russia to say it was preparing “retaliatory measures”.<\/p>\n
Romania’s defence ministry said Bucharest had “requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania”.<\/p>\n
Dan said that in a conversation with NATO chief Mark Rutte, “I insisted on expediting the process (of getting more air defence equipment), and he fully agreed that this equipment should reach Romania as quickly as possible”.<\/p>\n
Inhabitants of Galati meanwhile expressed fear, bewilderment and anger.<\/p>\n
“Where are the anti-drone systems here? Shouldn’t they be somewhere on the border of Romania? Why aren’t they? Where is the European Union? NATO?” asked 47-year-old Mihaela, who only gave her first name.<\/p>\n
Later Friday, Dan — whose country is already facing political turmoil, with the prime minister ousted in a no-0confidence vote this month —\u00a0was booed when he visited the site of the crash, with some chanting “resignation”.<\/p>\n
– What have the EU and its allies said? –<\/p>\n
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia’s “war of aggression” had “crossed yet another line”, pledging to increase deterrence on the EU’s eastern border.<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the incident showed Russia’s “willingness to escalate”, and Britain’s Keir Starmer\u00a0condemned the “serious violation of NATO airspace”.<\/p>\n
France said it had summoned the Russian ambassador.<\/p>\n
The US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, also slammed the “reckless incursion”, saying: “We stand with our NATO ally.”<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a post on X that the drone crash “proved once again that Russian aggression poses a real threat to the Black Sea region and the entire Europe”, while President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his European allies to increase sanctions on Russia.<\/p>\n
– What will NATO do next? –<\/p>\n
“Russia’s reckless behaviour is a danger to us all,” NATO chief Rutte wrote on social media.<\/p>\n
“NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory.”<\/p>\n
NATO sources said there was no indication whether Romania would call for emergency consultations under the alliance’s Article Four.<\/p>\n
That move would still be well short of NATO’s Article Five mutual defence clause being triggered, which has happened only once in the alliance’s 77-year history, after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.<\/p>\n
Article Four consultations have been called three times during Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine: the first time just after the invasion in 2022, once by Poland after incursions by Russian drones, and once by Estonia after Russian fighter jets violated its airspace.<\/p>\n
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