Romania has extended flight restrictions along the Ukrainian border

2023-09-15 07:08:52

Romania has imposed additional restrictions on flights in part of its airspace along the border with Ukraine due to increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian river ports on the Danube, the Ministry of Defense reported on Thursday.

Fragments of drones after Russian attacks were found on the territory of NATO member Romania three times this month, which highlights the risks to the security of the North Atlantic alliance, whose members have mutual defense obligations, writes Reuters.

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s river ports across the Danube from Romania have increased since mid-July, when Moscow abandoned a year-old agreement that lifted the de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. NATO said the Russian strikes near the border were “destabilizing,” even though there was no indication that Russia intended to strike a NATO country. But there is no further reaction yet.

For the first time, Romania introduced restrictions along the border with Ukraine in May last year at a distance of up to 8 km in the national airspace at an altitude of up to 1,000 meters.

Now, the Romanian Ministry of Defense has announced that it has imposed additional restrictions between the Danube river ports of Sulina and Galati for a distance of up to 30 km in national airspace up to an altitude of 4,000 meters.

“Manned or unmanned aircraft are not allowed in these restricted areas, with the exception of state aircraft … and emergency situations,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania twice summoned Russia’s Chargé d’affaires after the discovery of fragments of a drone on the territory of Romania. The Ministry of Defense is to deploy additional troops in southeastern Romania near the border and increase patrols and observation posts in an effort to prevent risks to local residents.

Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of grain, and the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta is now the largest alternative export route to Kiev, where grain arrives by road, rail or sea on barges across the Danube.