Consequences of the War in Ukraine
The War Russia is waging on Ukraine has consequences for Romania
Leyla Cheamil, 13.09.2024, 13:50
The head of the Romanian state, Klaus Iohannis, has summoned the country’s Higher Defence Council, a.k.a CSAT, for next week, on September 19 to be precise. High on the agenda are issues related to the stage and the prospects of the conflict in Ukraine following the illegal and unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation but also related to the opportunities offered by the new geo-political context for strengthening the Strategic Partnership with the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking country.
In this sense, “the irreversibility of Moldova’s European progress is assured”. The CSAT’s meeting comes after on Saturday night several Russian attack drones violated Romania’s airspace on their way to various targets in Ukraine.
Two F-16 fighters immediately took off to monitor the drones. According to Romanian defence officials, the drones were not shot down because they were not hostile. Defence Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, told Radio Romania that if the Romanian territory had been attacked, the threat would have been eliminated right away.
Angel Tilvar: “I can say – and don’t believe I’m telling you something of a high level of confidentiality – we and our allies are seeing in real time what is happening on the national territory. We were actually monitoring the drone since its very entrance into the Romanian airspace, we dispatched two F-16s which followed it. And if the conclusion had been the drone’s intention was to strike we would have taken the measures required in these situations. So, there was no element of a threat that we couldn’t handle. And I am sending this clear message to eliminate all speculations that we weren’t ready for a response.”
On Thursday Defence Minister Tîlvăr talked on the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, and again lashed out at the Russian attacks against Ukraine’s civil port infrastructure on the Danube, close to Romania’s border, and against the civilians in that country. The two also talked about Romania’s efforts to support Ukraine’s armed forces and the effective coordination of the multinational assistance projects Romania is part of, such as the European Training Center for F-16 personnel in Fetesti, south-eastern Romania, where the Ukrainian pilots will be training to use this type of jet fighter. In turn, Minister Umerov thanked Romania for the support it had given to his country since the first day of the conflict, support consisting of humanitarian and diplomatic actions, in supporting its grain exports and other major fields. He also conveyed a message of gratitude regarding Romania’s decision to donate a Patriot missile system to Ukraine.
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