Romania issues major updates after Russian drone strike injures two | World | News
Now, following a meeting of the country’s National Security Council, Romanian President Nicușor Dan has announced that the Russian consulate general in the Black Sea port city of Constanta will be closed and the Russian consul will be deported. “Last night there was a serious incident involving two people. [Romanian] citizens were injured and Russia takes full responsibility for this. The Russian consulate general in Constanta has been declared persona non grata and the consulate in Constanta will be closed,” Mr. Dan said.
“We also discussed the issue of civil defense at the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense. A very rapid response came last evening and our Minister of Internal Affairs informed us that the measures, the number of personnel and the measures already taken for the entire potentially affected area have been increased. Therefore, we are prepared in this regard.”
This comes after Romanian foreign minister Oana Toiu confirmed that the drone was of Russian origin and was carrying explosives. The ministry had already described the accident as a serious escalation for Moscow.
Speaking to Euronews, Ms Toiu said: “We think it is entirely the responsibility of the Russian Federation to put our civilians at risk.” “We have received final confirmation from teams on the ground that the drone is a Russian UAV and is carrying explosives.”
Speaking about the closure of the consulate, Ms Toiu added: “We see this as a clear message to Russia that this is unacceptable and that the safety and security of our citizens is our primary concern.”
Mr Dan also confirmed that he had discussed the Galați incident with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, describing the incident as “the most serious security incident on Romanian territory since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. Mr Rutte expressed the Alliance’s “absolute solidarity” with Romania and confirmed that NATO was “ready to defend every square centimeter of Allied territory”.
Meanwhile, Romanian Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said that authorities in Bucharest were considering sanctions against Russian diplomats in response to the drone attack. In her statement on Friday, May 29, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia had “crossed another line” and promised to keep up the pressure on Moscow.
Ms. Toiu stated that the Russian drone crash into a residential building in Galați met the criteria that justified the application of NATO’s Article 4 on consultations with allies.
However, according to Reuters and Kyiv Post, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the initial conclusions about the incident, suggesting that the plane may have belonged to Ukraine rather than Russian.
According to Kyiv Post, Putin said, “I don’t know what kind of unmanned aerial vehicle exploded in Romania. Send its remains to us…” Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for similar incidents in the airspace of NATO countries.
