AUR Leader Warns Black Sea War Could Escalate After Drone Shootdown

Petrișor Peiu says Romania must respond more forcefully each time a Russian drone enters its airspace. The AUR Senate leader warned that “the war in the Black Sea will escalate” and called for an urgent, affordable way to destroy the drones.

“Russia must be protested firmly every time Russian drones enter our airspace,” Peiu wrote on Facebook. He said Romania might need stronger diplomatic actions and argued that any drone should be shot down, regardless of the state that launched it, followed by a firm protest against that state.

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Russia must be protested firmly every time Russian drones enter our airspace. Perhaps there should also be stronger diplomatic actions. I do not know the procedures well, but in any case, every drone should be shot down, regardless of the state from which it was launched. Only then should there be a firm protest against the state to which the drone belongs.

Peiu also said the drones should probably be brought down with weapons that are more effective and cheaper. “It seems to me that the war in the Black Sea will escalate, which is precisely why Romania must urgently find a solution for bringing down drones at a reasonable cost, one that a budget as ‘riddled with holes’ as ours can bear,” he wrote. “In this sense, time is becoming an essential factor for us.”

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It seems to me that the war in the Black Sea will escalate, which is precisely why Romania must urgently find a solution for bringing down drones at a reasonable cost, one that a budget as ‘riddled with holes’ as ours can bear. In this sense, time is becoming an essential factor for us.

His remarks followed the Romanian Army’s downing of a third Russian drone to enter the country’s airspace for a third consecutive day. A Romanian Air Force F-16 shot down a drone on July 27 after it flew without authorization over Romanian territorial waters near Sulina and Chilia. Romania’s Foreign Ministry urgently summoned Russia’s ambassador.

Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said it was “unacceptable and intolerable” for Russia to continue violating Romanian airspace, which is also the airspace of NATO and the European Union. AUR representatives had earlier asked the government and Defense Ministry to explain why another drone that entered Romanian airspace on Friday morning had not been neutralized closer to the border. The party said the pilots and Air Force personnel had acted professionally, but argued that the delay in political procurement decisions exposed a strategic vulnerability.

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It is unacceptable and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace, which is also the airspace of NATO and the European Union.