European countries must get used to provocations such as violations of their national airspace and respond "firmly but proportionately". This was stated by Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Moșteanu after a meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council, local media and the “Reuters“ agency reported, BTA reports.
Moșteanu specified that the Council has defined a clear chain of command in the event of violations of airspace by manned or unmanned aircraft.
Romania has already repeatedly found fragments of drones that fell on its territory since Russia began the war against Ukraine, recalls “Reuters“.
The minister explained that in the case of drones and manned military aircraft, the decision to shoot down is made by the commander of the operation. In the case of civilian aircraft, the decision is within the powers of the minister, “Digi 24“ TV specified.
“We discussed at this meeting two important projects that come as a result of Law 73 of 2025 on the intervention against unauthorized aircraft in the airspace of Romania. The draft law was approved by parliament in the spring, published in the State Gazette and entered into force on May 19. In July, 10 days after I became minister, I issued an order that defines the procedures and the chain of command for intervention against drones. Today, we have supplemented this legal framework with a methodology for the targets that need protection against drones“, pointed out Moștianu.
He explained that all defense institutions maintain a list of objects that need to be protected, and it is updated according to the situation. It can also include temporary targets, such as places for important events with the participation of state or government leaders.
The second draft, he said, defines the chain of command in the event of the need to shoot down an aircraft that has entered the airspace without permission.
“We have the case of drones, where we have already defined the chain of command in detail with a ministerial order of July 4. In the case of manned military aircraft, the decision and procedure are coordinated by the mission commander according to NATO rules. We recently saw a similar case in Estonia,“Moștianu said.
He stressed that the use of weapons and the destruction of an aircraft is the last resort, if all other attempts to identify and push it out are ignored.
“In "The decision on civilian manned aircraft remains with the minister. This has been the practice since September 11, 2001, when the world changed after the hijacked planes attack in New York," the minister added.