New fragments of an unmanned aerial vehicle similar to those used by the Russian military have been found on Romanian soil, the defense ministry said on Saturday, with President Klaus Iohannis saying it was an unacceptable violation of Romania’s airspace. In a communiquĂ©, Iohannis said he had informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the fragments of the drone – the second to crash in Romania this week – and that Stoltenberg had reaffirmed the alliance’s full solidarity with Romania. “, he told Reuters.

The crash site of the Russian drone near the village of PlauruPhoto: Kostel and Daniela Tenase from the village of Plauru

“The identification by the Romanian authorities on Romanian territory, cerca de la frontera con Ukraina, of new fragments of a drone (…) indicates that an unacceptable violation of the airspace of Romania, a NATO state, has been carried out, con riesgos reales para la seguridad de los ciudadanos romanos de la zone,” Johannis said. “I strongly condemn the incident caused by Russia’s attacks on the Ukrainian ports of the Danube,” he added. seguridad de la NATO, cuyos members tienen un compromiso de defensa mutua.

Stoltenberg confirmed that Russian attacks near the border were “destabilizing”, although there was no indication that Russia intended to attack a NATO member. Earlier this week, the United States State Department announced it would send more F-16 fighter jets to bolster NATO’s aerial surveillance mission in Romania.

Romania’s foreign ministry summoned the chargĂ© d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Bucharest, Olena Kopnina, on Saturday to protest the alleged violation of Romanian airspace by a drone similar to those used by Russia in its war against Romania. Ukraine.