The Minister of Defense: “While the drone was in Romanian airspace, it could not be fired.” What Miruta asked the head of NATO
The Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, reacted on Friday, after a drone crashed and exploded on a block in the center of the city of Galati.
“The war on Romania's borders is a reality. Equally real is our responsibility to make rational decisions, based on facts, not on emotion or speculation,” Radu Miruță wrote on his Facebook page.
He says that, following last night's incident, the President of Romania, as well as our NATO allies, have been informed.
“I had a telephone conversation this morning with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, to whom I argued once again how important it is that what we have officially requested at the allied level be implemented in the Dobrogea area, until the anti-drone capabilities recently ordered by the Ministry of Defense are delivered,” the minister wrote.
The Minister of Defense confirmed the technical and operational details of the event:
“Yes, it was a Geran 2 drone. Yes, it was discovered and tracked on the newly installed radar in the Galați area, after the incident two weeks ago. Yes, the fighter jets had authorization to fire. Yes, during the 4 minutes it was in Romanian airspace, it could not be fired without the projectile causing greater damage to the city of Galați or so that the projectile would not reach outside Romania and be considered an interference in the war in Ukraine”.
About the need for air defense from the ground
“Yes, we need more anti-aircraft defense systems from the ground, which we do not have because, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, whoever had this decision did not take it. For 5 months, since I have been a minister, equipping the Army has been my number 1 priority, and compared to the situation before now, for the first time in SAFE we have 8 anti-drone defense systems”, he added.
The minister mentioned that the authorities are in permanent contact and are working on additional measures to strengthen security on the Eastern Flank, some of which will be announced in the next few hours.
After the incident in Galați, President Nicușor Dan announced that he would convene a meeting of the Supreme Council of Defense on Friday.
