Just a few hours after a Russian drone crashed this Friday into a residential building in Galați, a city in Romania on the border with Ukraine, the country’s Foreign Minister, Oana Toiu, (Calarași, 40 years old), speaks with EL PAÍS in a phone interview. The incident, the most serious since the Russian aggression in Ukraine began four years ago, caused injuries to a 51-year-old woman and a 14-year-old teenager. The head of the Romanian Foreign Ministry insists that NATO countries should increase their deterrence capabilities on the eastern flank to ensure the protection of citizens and reaffirms that Bucharest has made air defense a national priority, for which they will allocate 2 billion euros.
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Question. Two drones have already fallen in the city of Galati and there are 47 fragments of devices identified in these four years of war. There was a risk that injuries would occur sooner or later.
Answer. It was a risk we were aware of. We have a border of more than 600 kilometers with Ukraine. The attacks that Russia is carrying out against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, even near our border, have also intensified. That is why, since the beginning of the year, we have requested a meeting on maritime security within NATO, focused on the Black Sea, naturally, and the Danube, which will take place in a few days. We have been talking with allies about the need to increase capabilities on the eastern flank, something we have made a priority for future acquisitions.
Q. Could the impact of the drone in Galați have been avoided?
A. It is our common duty to ensure the safety of citizens. For this reason, we are prioritizing increasing air defense capabilities, modernizing what we currently have, and increasing allied effort. We have held talks with my counterparts from allied countries to ensure there is a common understanding of the risks and the joint effort to increase defense on the eastern flank. Additionally, we are discussing in practical terms the presence of planes, helicopters, and anti-drone systems needed to protect this flank.
Q. Should the fighters that were deployed have destroyed it?
A. The F-16 planes had made the decision to shoot down the drone. This decision corresponds to the pilots because only in situ can the security risks be assessed. Over a city with a dense population like Galati (250,000 inhabitants), they assessed that there was a great security risk. We know that Romanian pilots and these planes can do it; a Romanian pilot recently managed to shoot down a drone over the airspace in a Baltic country. It is very important to equip the Romanian army with modern instruments to face this type of attack.
Q. What can Romania do together with NATO to strengthen the eastern flank?
A. In two directions. One is very clear: strengthening capabilities. On our part, we will allocate 2 billion euros for acquisitions in air defense. This includes an important project together with Ukraine on Romanian territory. We are talking about lessons learned in this war. Denmark is doing the same, and the Gulf countries, which also identified the need to modernize their air defense capabilities after the start of the war in the Middle East. We are also talking with NATO allied countries to ensure that we have this joint capability. It is also very important within the European Union, on the one hand, to increase pressure on Russia through sanction packages and, on the other, to maintain appropriate funding lines.
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Q. Should harsher measures be taken against Russia?
A. We are aligned with our partners on the sanction packages. There are 20 that have been approved with Romania’s contribution and vote, and we are working on number 21.
Q. Do you think it is enough that the Romanian Government has decided to close the Constanța consulate and expel its consul?
A. Russia must understand that this is unacceptable behavior and that it is fully responsible for it. That is why we have decided to declare the consul general as persona non grata and have given him 72 hours to leave Romanian territory. I summoned the Russian ambassador so that the director responsible for the eastern flank could inform him of this.
Q. How did the Russian ambassador react?
A. The response he gave is a standard one with which he tries to escape his own responsibility. In Romania, we have a history that clearly teaches us that there must be distrust towards statements coming from Russia. Especially when our teams on the ground have conducted tests to be able to affirm that it is a Russian drone, a typical model they are using in the illegal war against Ukraine. Also, being a city with many citizens, there are also videos showing the type of aircraft design (Geran 2).
Q. What is the way to resolve the war in Ukraine?
A. It is very important to protect lives that we return to respecting international law and guarantee in the medium and long term our own security of European territory and continue the pressure on Russia so that it really comes to the negotiating table. That is why coordination is very important not only at the European level but also with the United States, Canada, and other partners in the world with whom we work to achieve this.
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