Romania has decided to declare a staff member of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest as "persona non grata" and expel them from the country, following recent incidents involving Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) violating Romanian airspace.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement regarding the decision. The Russian ambassador to Bucharest was summoned to the ministry, where officials presented debris from a drone that had crashed on Romanian territory. Investigations conducted by the prosecutor's office confirmed the Russian origin of the UAV.
The Romanian side expressed its strong protest to the Russian ambassador, emphasizing that the violation of Romania's airspace, which also constitutes the airspace of NATO and the European Union, is "completely unacceptable." The Russian diplomat, whose name and position were not disclosed, has been ordered to leave Bucharest within five days. Furthermore, Romania has recalled its ambassador from Moscow for consultations, a move that signals a significant escalation in diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
Romania, a NATO member since 2004, has frequently reported incidents of drone debris falling on its territory near the border with Ukraine since the start of the full-scale conflict. These incidents have raised concerns about regional security and the potential for spillover effects from the ongoing war in Ukraine, prompting Bucharest to increase its surveillance and defense cooperation with its Western allies.
