The European Union castigated Russia for its recent drone incursion into Romania earlier this weekend, calling it a “reckless escalation.”
The Romanian military scrambled two F-16s on Saturday after a Russian drone on its way to Ukraine was detected in its airspace. The drone circled a remote area of the country for nearly an hour and the F-16 pilots initially had authorization to shoot it down, but they ultimately chose not to and the drone headed toward Ukraine.
Now, as Romania has summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest over the incident, multiple EU officials signaled on Sunday that action would be taken to “protect” its member countries.
“Russia’s incursion into Romanian airspace is once again a blatant violation of EU sovereignty and a serious threat to regional security. We are working closely with Romania and all Member States to protect the EU territory,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, echoed those remarks in a statement of her own addressing the incursion.
“The violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is yet another unacceptable breach of an EU Member State’s sovereignty. This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security. We stand in solidarity with Romania. I am in close contact with the Romanian government,” Kallas said.
The drone incursion into Romanian airspace now makes it the second such incident to affect a NATO country this week.
Last Tuesday, Russian drones “repeatedly” violated Poland’s airspace, leading to the country deploying aircraft to shoot them down.
Multiple European countries called that incursion a “deliberate and coordinated strike constituting an unprecedented provocation and escalation of tension.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, speculated that it “could’ve been a mistake.”
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“Could’ve been a mistake, but regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation, but hopefully it’s gonna come to an end,” Trump said.
Trump is mediating a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, negotiations of which have stalled as fighting between the two countries continues.