Brigadier General Gheorghe Maxim clarified that the armed forces had an extremely short period of time to react. Moreover, the intervening forces could not use munitions whose trajectory would disturb the airspace of neighboring Ukraine. General Maxim emphasized that while Ukraine is in a state of war, Romania is at peace and cannot afford to fire projectiles into Ukrainian space, which greatly complicates the defense of border areas along the Danube River.
The site is currently under strict security, debris collection and investigation are ongoing, and evacuated residents cannot yet return to their homes. At the same time, the Romanian army is trying to reassure the public – according to them, it was not a targeted attack on the state, but the reality of the country adjacent to the scene of the ongoing conflict.
They summoned the Russian ambassador
Romanian President Nicușor Dan called an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense immediately after the attack to discuss the consequences of the night’s events. In his public statement, he called the event the most serious incident that has hit Romanian territory since the beginning of Russian aggression.
At the same time, the President attributed full responsibility to the Russian Federation and its irresponsible use of weapon systems in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the North Atlantic Alliance. He also announced that Bucharest would notify the UN Security Council of Russia’s repeated violations of international law.
Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu described the situation as an extremely irresponsible escalation by Moscow and summoned the Russian ambassador to the ministry. At the same time, the country’s leadership officially asked NATO structures for the accelerated deployment of additional anti-drone capabilities that would strengthen the defense of their airspace.
They are preparing a package of new sanctions
Criticism of Russia’s actions also came from beyond the borders. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, publicly declared that Russia crossed another border with this step and confirmed that the European Union is already preparing the 21st package of sanctions against Moscow. The President of the European Council, António Costa, complemented this position with words about a gross violation of international law and promised the EU’s full solidarity with Romania.
Similarly, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reacted forcefully, describing Russia’s behavior as reckless and dangerous for the entire community. He assured the Romanian leadership that the Alliance was ready to defend every centimeter of Allied territory.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha immediately joined in condemning the attack. He appealed to world leaders with the words that Russian aggression represents a real and immediate threat to the whole of Europe.
These are not the first drones on Romanian territory
The events in the city of Galac, which is located literally on the three borders of Romania, Ukraine (a short distance from the port of Reni, from which it is less than 20 kilometers as the crow flies to Galac, which a drone flies by in a few minutes) and Moldova, are seemingly the culmination of increasing security tensions.
Russian forces regularly and systematically attack Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube, especially the strategically important ports of Reni and Izmail. Just last night, drones hit the Izmail port area, with one of them getting caught in a power line and causing a massive blackout in five Ukrainian villages.
Since the beginning of the war, the wreckage of unmanned aircraft has already been found on Romanian territory in dozens of cases, and in this calendar year alone, the authorities recorded twelve such finds. A month ago, a Russian drone landed right on the outskirts of Galac. Also strange is the recent discovery of a huge, three-meter drone without an explosive charge near the city of Baia Mare in the northwest of the country, whose origin is still being investigated.
Additionally, the problem of stray and disruptive drones affects the entire eastern flank of the Alliance. Baltic states and Nordic allies report an ongoing wave of incidents attributed to Russian disinformation campaigns and signal jamming. As the Lithuanian Minister of Defense Robertas Kaunas warned, all affected states must quickly adapt to this new reality, because the probability of similar crisis scenarios repeating is currently extremely high.
A warning that Europe has long ignored: The Baltics see more than just the war in Ukraine in the Russian threat
The danger, which was fully demonstrated this week by the crash of a Russian drone in Galaci, Romania, is nothing new for the states on the eastern border of the North Atlantic Alliance. The Baltic countries have been warning the West about this threat for more than twenty years, but they were really listened to only after the invasion of Ukraine.
The current Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, and the former President, Kersti Kaljulaidová, openly remind us in the latest that the incidents with disturbed airspace or stray drones are only a physical manifestation of the fact that the war has long since been confined to Ukrainian territory. According to the Estonian leaders, Vladimir Putin is not only interested in conquering the neighboring state.
Kaljulaidová emphasizes that it is precisely the tough resistance of the Ukrainian defenders that is currently protecting countries such as Moldova and Georgia from further Russian expansion. Although, according to the Estonian head of diplomacy, the sanctions are working and the Kremlin is gradually losing its economic power, Europe can no longer naively rely exclusively on the United States. It must stand on its own two feet and massively invest in defense, while, according to the ex-president, it should also take advantage of the technologically rapidly developing Ukrainian military industry.
This attitude of the Baltic states towards the Russian threat was also reflected in the recent decision of Estonia, which, together with Lithuania and Latvia, banned the flight of the government special plane of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to Moscow for the May 9 celebrations. If the Slovak government special plane cannot fly over Ukraine due to the war and Poland and the Baltics close its airspace, it must choose an extreme detour, for example via Turkey.
As Minister Tsahkna explained to Aktuality.sk, the Estonian government refuses to provide its airspace to anyone who goes to Russia to legitimize Putin’s propaganda. Their historical experience with the Soviet occupation should remind us that while some European leaders choose the path of concessions, the real line of European security is actually being defended today not only in the Ukrainian trenches, but also in the sky above the Romanian or Baltic borderlands.
Photo of the week:
What else awaits us:
- The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, will receive Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar.
- A meeting between the military representatives of Lebanon and Israel will take place on the grounds of the US Department of Defense (War). Their goal is to develop specific security measures along the common borders. In particular, the Lebanese side demands the creation of an independent mechanism to verify compliance with the ceasefire, which was extended by 45 days.
- Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishak Dar will meet his American counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington.
- Meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS).
- The prestigious Shangri-La Dialogue security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is taking place. It is considered the most important defense summit in Asia.
- The session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will begin. Delegates will focus on strengthening NATO’s collective defence, continued support for Ukraine, resilience to hybrid threats and increasing defense spending.
