A former foreign minister proposes a tough answer after the drone fell over a block of flats in Galati: “Moscow must understand that there are consequences”
Romania must send a “strong signal, with the role of deterrence”, claims former Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi, in a reaction to the HotNews audience, after a Russian drone crashed, on Thursday night, over a block of flats in Galati.
“Moscow must understand that the Galati incident has consequences for an already frozen bilateral relationship as a result of the armed invasion of the sovereign and independent Ukraine, a UN member state. The Baltic states have already expelled the Russian ambassadors. If only businessmen will operate in the two capitals ad interim, we are only reflecting the real situation of the bilateral relationship”, Teodor Baconschi told HotNews.
A drone crashed on Thursday night over a block of flats in Galati, the incident being followed by an explosion and the outbreak of a fire. The authorities reported that the drone was of Russian origin, and several people were evacuated from the building. The Ministry of Defense announced that the F-16 aircraft were lifted from the ground and the pilots were cleared to engage the target, but the drone was not shot down before impact. After the incident, the Russian ambassador in Bucharest was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. President Nicușor Dan convened a meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council on Friday, starting at 11:00 a.m.
“We are not breaking diplomatic relations”
Former Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi claims that the incident should generate a stronger reaction from Romania: the expulsion of the Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, an idea stated previously in a post on Facebook.
“We are not breaking diplomatic relations, but we are sending a strong signal, with the role of deterrence. Of course, the most urgent thing is to remind the “sovereignist” parties in Romania, which systematically voted against the laws aimed at making the national anti-drone defense effective, that they are working in front of the Russian aggressor”, says the former foreign minister.
“We urgently need anti-drone capabilities produced here, according to what was agreed upon during the recent official visit of President Volodimir Zelenski to Bucharest. It wouldn't hurt us to install a government…”, Teodor Baconschi also declared for HotNews.
The Galați incident also comes amid new diplomatic tension between Bucharest and Moscow. The day before, the Russian Embassy in Bucharest conveyed, in a post on Facebook, that Ambassador Vladimir Lipaev had a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at his request. According to the Russian Embassy, the Russian diplomat asked the Romanian authorities “not to follow the frivolous approach of other European capitals” and “not to unnecessarily expose the lives and health of their own citizens to danger”, in the context of Moscow's recommendation regarding the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Kiev.
The embassy also claimed that Romania did not have the “courage to condemn” an attack attributed to Ukraine in Lugansk and demanded the end of military and financial support for Kiev. “There was no appropriate reaction from the Romanian side. In response, only the traditional set of propagandistic clichés that distort the real unfolding of events was heard,” the Russian Embassy said.
