Procedures for airspace security
Thursday’s meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense, decided the actions to be taken and the chain of command in the event of violation of Romania's airspace.
Sorin Iordan, 26.09.2025, 13:50
An increasing number of European states on the Eastern Flank of the European Union and NATO are taking measures to counter Russian drones which are entering allied airspace. In Bucharest, the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) approved, on Thursday, the normative acts that complete the protection measures against unmanned aircraft systems that enter the national airspace without authorization. Thus, not only the technical requirements of the equipment and systems that will be used against drones were developed, but the decision-making chain for the execution of the measures needed to shoot down these devices was also established. Regarding manned aircraft that enter Romanian airspace without permission, the use of weapons to take them down is a decision that must be taken “as a last resort”, said Defense Minister Ionuţ Mosteanu after the CSAT meeting.
Ionuţ Mosteanu: “We have military and civilian manned aircraft. In the case of military ones, the decision and the entire procedure is coordinated and carried out by the mission commander in keeping with all NATO rules for intercepting military aircraft. These are gradual steps and the use of weapons and the destruction of an aircraft is a measure of last resort, if all other steps are ignored and the aircraft does not identify itself and does not leave Romanian airspace, and it is a matter of civilian manned aircraft, in which case the decision to shoot them down rests with the minister, as before.”
The Supreme Council of National Defense also established that all institutions in the National Defense System can define a list of objectives that must be protected against drones, a list that is updated according to realities and that may also include temporary objectives. Ionuţ Moşteanu explained that such a temporary objective can be, for example, a building where an important meeting is taking place attended by heads of state or prime ministers. The Minister of Defense also recalled the recent situation in Poland, when 19 Russian drones entered its airspace without authorization, several of which were shot down by NATO air patrols. He specified that states must be better equipped and prepared to be able to deal with such situations. And the number of situations of this type is increasing.
For several days, Denmark has been targeted by what the authorities there call “a hybrid attack of unknown origin”, which led to the closure of two airports in the capital Copenhagen. Also, since the beginning of this month, Romania and Estonia have reported violations of their airspace by Russian aircraft. In the case of Romania, a Russian drone flew over the national airspace for approximately 50 minutes, after which it headed towards Ukraine. In these circumstances, the European Defense Ministers of the Eastern Flank states, except for Hungary, are discussing with the European Defense Commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, about creating an “anti-drone wall”, a project that will be implemented in collaboration with NATO. On Tuesday, the Secretary General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, warned Russia that NATO will use all military and non-military instruments to defend itself against what he called Moscow’s increasingly irresponsible behavior. (EE)
