By John Irish
PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) – Romania’s foreign minister said on Wednesday several allies were preparing to reinforce air defence capabilities along NATO’s eastern flank after a drone identified by Bucharest as Russian crashed into a residential building on its territory.
Oana Toiu said during a visit to Paris that the incident would accelerate efforts already underway with NATO to strengthen surveillance and response systems, focusing on radars, fighter jets and anti-drone technologies.
“Our top priority is to increase capabilities,” she said, adding that Bucharest had already presented NATO with a detailed list of needs before the incident.
Under those plans, allies are assessing how to supplement Romania’s existing air monitoring and air defence systems, particularly along its 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine.
The reinforcements could include additional assets from allied countries, such as aircraft involved in NATO’s air policing mission, as well as expanded radar coverage to track low-flying drones, Toiu said.
France, which leads NATO’s battlegroup in Romania with about 1,400 troops, is discussing further support on radar and air monitoring systems, while other allies including Britain, Italy and Spain have signalled willingness to step up contributions to air defence operations, she said.
The U.S. could also provide specialised capabilities, notably in radar and surveillance, rather than large-scale troop deployments.
“There is a common understanding that we need to strengthen the eastern flank, not just in Romania. This is a conversation we’re having with the Baltics and all countries on the eastern flank,” she said.
MODERNISATION
Romania said these measures would act as a temporary bridge while it pursues a broader modernisation of its own defences.
Bucharest has allocated around 2 billion euros to upgrade air defence and monitoring systems in the coming years, but meanwhile Romania will “need to rely on allied support to cover the gaps”, she said.
The Russian-made drone that entered Romania’s airspace last week crashed into a building in the city of Galati, near the border with Ukraine, wounding two civilians.
Toiu said Bucharest had no evidence that the incident was intentional but held Russia fully responsible for the breach.
She said Romania was working on private-sector anti-drone projects, as well as a 200 million euro plan with Ukraine to build a facility producing systems to counter low-cost aerial threats increasingly used in the conflict.
(Reporting by John IrishEditing by Gareth Jones)
