Analyst Sergiu Mișcoiu talks about the steps Romania should take after the drone incident. What does it say about the activation of NATO Article 4
Political analyst Sergiu Mișcoiu stated on TVR that the incident in which a drone entered Romania's territory and crashed in Galați County represents a situation that justifies the discussion of additional security measures, including the convening of the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) and the analysis of the possibility of activating Article 4 of the NATO Treaty.
Photo source: INQUAM Photos
The statements were made during an intervention on TVR, in the context of the debate regarding the reaction of the Romanian authorities after the incident occurred the previous night and after the explanations provided by the representatives of the Ministry of National Defense.
Asked if the situation requires the convening of the CSAT, Mișcoiu answered: “The CSAT needs to meet because it is a security crisis without a doubt. There is a need for firmness in the decisions that will be taken. It is very good that they are as concrete and quick as possible.”
The analyst appreciated that Romania should also discuss the possibility of activating Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, a mechanism that allows consultations between the allied states when one of the members considers that its security is threatened.
“It is necessary to activate Article 4. It is also necessary to precipitate all operations related to strengthening our defense capacity in that area”he declared.
In his opinion, operative measures are needed to strengthen anti-aircraft defense in the east of the country, an area he considers vulnerable due to its proximity to the conflict in Ukraine.
Also during the intervention, Mișcoiu claimed that the Romanian authorities should also analyze the diplomatic response to Russia, but only after establishing the exact circumstances of the incident.
“However, it should be clarified before making this decision what type of action took place. Did we have a drone that entered to intentionally hit Romanian territory or was it a drifting drone that was destined for Ukrainian space? This needs to be clarified,” said the analyst.
According to him, the conclusions of the investigation regarding the trajectory of the drone and how it arrived on Romanian territory should be the basis of any diplomatic decisions.
However, Miscoiu appreciated that a simple summons of the Russian ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not be enough.
“I don't think that our behavior can be summed up in the summoning of the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, because so far such a summoning has not proven effective at all”he declared.
He also spoke about Romania's ability to respond to threats posed by drones, claiming that investments in systems to detect and combat them have been delayed.
“It's extremely late and this investment in drones should have been done, say, sometime from maybe the second half of 2022, if not at least early 2023,” said Miscoiu.
He argued that since the early years of the war in Ukraine there were enough signals that drones would play a central role in the conflict.
“In this area, Romania was and still is far too under-endowed”, said the analyst.
Referring to the way in which the Romanian authorities communicated after the incident, Mișcoiu appreciated that the reaction of the institutions must also be analyzed through the lens of the current political context.
“I think that the authorities have communicated in a manner specific to the situation we are in now. And this situation is that of an interim government, in which the area of technical-military decision is operationally more important than that of strictly political decision”, he stated.
He concluded that the authorities must quickly and transparently clarify the circumstances of the incident. “Furthermore, we will have to know exactly, in a transparent manner, as they were promised in the press conference from the MApN, what is the nature of the operation that took the drone to Romanian territory and, depending on this, to calibrate the reactions a little more actively”, Sergiu Mișcoiu also said on TVR.
We remind you that, on Friday night, a drone crashed on a block of flats in Galati, the incident being followed by an explosion and fire at an apartment located on the 10th floor of the building. A RO-Alert message was issued for Brăila, Tulcea and Galați.
