| |
Romanian Border Residents Fear Fallout 09/17 06:12
ISACCEA, Romania (AP) -- The text alerts blare first, then the blasts arrive.
For 48-year-old Robert Marian, who lives in Isaccea, a small Romanian border
town in eastern Tulcea County along the Danube River with a crossing into
Ukraine, the proximity of Russian drone strikes -- just hundreds of meters
across the river -- has become a source of constant fear.
"There are alerts warning us that something is coming," he told The
Associated Press. "It happened two weeks ago, maybe three. I was asleep at
midnight ... One was quieter, but another was really loud. I got scared and ran
out of the house."
As Russia's war in Ukraine grinds on, drone incursions into Romania's
airspace have increased significantly. The blasts just across the Danube are a
reminder of how close war is to NATO territory -- at a time many fear Russian
President Vladimir Putin might want to test the alliance's resolve.
A Ukrainian border crossing with Romania was "deliberately damaged ... as
well as export infrastructure," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on
Sept. 1. Romanian customs announced the same day that activity at the
Isaccea-Orlivka crossing had been temporarily suspended.
Alina Mihail, another Isaccea resident, says she feels sick when she hears
the drone alerts and blasts ringing out across the border.
"I have so many nights where I don't sleep anymore," she said. "I live in
terror, me and my husband."
Romania sees a threefold jump in airspace breaches
Data from Romania's Ministry of National Defense indicate a threefold
increase in drone incursions so far this year compared with the whole of 2025
-- 27 compared with 9 -- and more than double the number of drones and drone
debris found on the NATO member's territory, at 37 compared with 16.
Already this year, there have been 73 attacks near the border on Ukrainian
territory, and some 56 military aircraft have been scrambled to "monitor and
manage the situation." Last year, there were 28 attacks near the border and 21
aircraft were raised. In the first year of the war, there was only one attack
near the border.
In May, a drone injured a mother and child after crashing into an apartment
block in the eastern town of Galati along the Danube River. A drone that
entered Romania from neighboring Moldova was tracked through several counties
last week before it reentered Moldova and crashed in a sunflower field.
Moscow has denied sending combat drones to Romanian territory.
EU officials warn of Russian provocations
The growing menace of drones crossing into Romania's skies, many of which
officials have blamed on Russia, prompted the NATO member to shoot down four
drones this year, the first time since the war next door started.
NATO countries across Europe have accused Moscow of being behind a string of
"hybrid war" actions against their countries, including drone incursions,
sabotage, an attempted attack at a German airport and a Danish helicopter that
was fired on with flares in the Baltic Sea.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Sept. 2 that "Russia has grown
increasingly reckless" as Moscow continues its war.
"We have seen more drones and missiles crossing into our airspace, along our
eastern flank, creating increased risk," he said. "The dangers Russia poses are
clear."
Last week, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also warned that he had
received information from CIA Director Jim Ratcliffe indicating Europe should
be prepared for intensified Russian provocations, including on the European
Union's eastern flank.
Minister says eastern flank is 'highly fluid'
Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta told The Associated Press that Russia
is considered a "primary, significant threat" to the eastern flank and to
Romania in both the National Defense Strategy and NATO assessments.
"We are engaged in discussions regarding the capabilities needed to counter
this common threat -- facing the same risks as Poland and the Baltic states --
and we are coordinating to ensure these capabilities are distributed in a way
that allows for interconnection," he said.
In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO
bolstered its presence on Europe's eastern flank by sending additional
multinational battle groups to Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia.
But last year, the U.S. reduced troop deployments to Eastern Europe,
including Romania, after Washington shifted its military posture, which
officials denied was a sign of lessened commitment to NATO.
Miruta said there are over 1,000 U.S. troops in Romania, which he said is
higher than it was after the U.S. troop rotation last year. "We have a solid
relationship," he said. "The security dynamics along the eastern flank are
highly fluid."
Short window to respond to incursions
Miruta said that discussions regarding NATO's Article 5 -- that an attack on
any member can be met with a collective response -- "can take various
directions," but said Romania currently has no information suggesting a ground
invasion is imminent or likely.
"From this perspective, we can rest easy," he said. He added that the
ongoing threat posed to Romania is unique because of Russia's frequent attacks
on Ukraine's Danube River ports, a short distance across the natural river
border.
"Once the border is crossed, the distance involved is merely tens of meters,
leaving very little reaction time," he said. "In contrast, in the Nordic
countries, targets are tens of kilometers away, providing a sufficiently
comfortable window for various forms of intervention."
Live fire across the border is visible and audible in some areas and has
long put Romanian residents on edge.
"We see the drones coming, we see them heading toward those ports," Miruta
added. "Most stop there, bombarding port infrastructure, but we cannot know if
any might cross over to the other side ... If one does cross over, our
communities ... would be at risk."
Romania ramps up defense spending
In response to the growing array of security threats, Romania and Poland
acquired the MEROPS system, which fires short counter-drones to take down
incoming stray drones. The defense ministry also announced last month that it
had received its first 2.5 billion euros from the EU's Security Action for
Europe program, from the total amount of 16.6 billion allocated.
In June, the defense ministry also announced it had signed a $2 billion
contract with an Israeli firm to acquire short and very-short-range air defense
systems, "designed to protect against aerial threats, including drones and
cruise missiles."
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said at the Ankara summit that defense
spending would reach up to 3.7% of GDP this year. He added that Romania joined
NATO's Drone Edge project, which aims to invest over $40 billion in
"counter-drone capabilities" over the next five years.
Back in Isaccea, Mihail says she and her husband stay in the house when the
text alerts warn of potential airspace breaches.
"We have no support, no one to help us," she said.
|
|
