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The Russian drone incursion this morning was this a mistake or a provocation? The Russian incursion is due to the unprovoked attack that Russia is ongoing against Ukraine. It was part of a drone attack against Ukrainian civilian and military infrastructure, unprovoked and the illegal war that Russia is having at our border. We do have the longest border with the war and we do consider it the full responsibility of the Russian Federation that our civilians were put at risk and two Romanians required medical attention. It's a residential building that needed to be evacuated as a consequence of the drone. We do have the final confirmation from the teams on the ground that the drone is a Russian drone
and it was carrying explosive. We do reaffirm our solidarity with Ukraine. The president has been very clear on the fact that we are aware and clear on the fact that supporting the resilience and the security is also a factor of support for our own security and for the allied space. Minister Walahav you, the news has come in recently over the last few hours that there will be a closure of the consulate in Constanta as well as the expulsion of the Russian consul. Why Constanta and what reaction do you expect from Moscow regarding this news? Council and we have decided to close the Russian consulate in Constanta and declare persona non grata the general consul. He will have 72 hours to leave
Romanian territory. We consider this a clear message to Russia that it is unacceptable and that the security and safety of our citizens is our prime concern. And Minister Walahav you, what how do you think that Russia will respond to this? We have summoned the Russian ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. We do believe Russia will continue to do what Russia is doing, which is to try to spread lies across our societies, but that is as unacceptable as the word itself. And Minister, we've seen a spate of drone incursions Russia or the Baltics over recent weeks. We've also heard chatter and very public statements from politicians regarding invoking and triggering NATO's Article 4. What is the hold up? Why would this
not be triggered now? We already have a set plan for consultations within NATO. It's a meeting that Romania has requested for a while on maritime security and of course now it will also be focused on the Danube and the Eastern flank. And we do have clarity on the capabilities that are needed on the Eastern flank. SACEUR has issued his decision in terms of the need that gather among allies we increase the deterrence and defense here on the Eastern flank. We also saw a statement come in early Friday morning from the US Ambassador to the EU, Matthew Whitaker, stating that Washington stands in support of Romania. However, he did not attribute these drones to Russia. Do you expect full unity from
the NATO military alliance when it comes to condemning Russia? Well, attribution is our responsibility and we have done that clearly. And we do expect solidarity among allies. We thank Ambassador Matthew Whitaker. Actually, Ambassador Matthew Whitaker has been in Romania. He knows our army and defense very well and we do have a close diplomatic relationship and we're grateful for his public stance. Well, we've also seen from these drone incursions are those politicians, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen herself stating that this requires a firm response. But are these responses firm enough? This recent
incursion in Romania seems to be another testament that perhaps it is not. We have seen a show of support that is very important because it is always important to reaffirm that the security of one is the security of all. And in terms of next steps, as I have said, we have had this clear decision at the diplomatic level on Romania side to close the consulate, but we need to continue also in terms of common pressure. I have spoken with Kaja Kallas in the morning in terms of accelerating pace for the 21st package of sanctions and we see there a clear support and we have seen clear statements from leaders in Europe, but also outside of the European Union. I've just had conversations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with um
across different strategic partners and we will continue to do that. We will move this conversation at the Security Council of United Nations and we do have a pre-planned consultation among allies as well. And what do you want in the 21st package of sanctions against Russia regarding these drones? We do consider the 21st package of sanctions as an instrument to put pressure because we do think security of Romania and the security of Europeans is best served by making sure we do reach an end at the war at the border. But have you asked for a specific component as part of this package to attack or be more aggressive on these drones?
We do have specific requests in terms of sanction packages and we do are working in terms of attribution also for sanctions that will target types of hybrid interferences from Russia also at the cybersecurity level. Thank you. Thank you so much, Minister.
