NATO chief commends Romanian authorities for quick and effective response to Eforie drone case

The new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte congratulates Romania and allied forces for their swift reaction to Thursday's incident when a suspicious drone flew 14 km into Romanian airspace in the Eforie area.

Mark Rutte says NATO will continue to increase surveillance in the area and that allies are planning new investments in air defense systems and modern fighter jets, mostly 5th-generation F-35s.

The statement was made at the end of a council of defense ministers from the alliance's member states at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Mark Rutte: Allies agreed that air and missile defense remains a NATO priority. This is all the more important as Russia's war against Ukraine has led to multiple violations of NATO airspace, including yesterday in Romania. I express NATO's solidarity with Romania and I congratulate the Romanian authorities and the NATO European Defense Command for the rapid and effective response to this incident. We will continue to increase surveillance, exchange information and coordinate individual and collective responses. Recently, we have significantly increased our presence on NATO's Eastern flank and strengthened the NATO air policing mission. The Allies plan to procure thousands of air defense and artillery systems and many hundreds of modern fighter jets, most of them 5th generation F-35s. The allies are also buying 1.000 Patriot missiles to replenish their stockpiles.

Translated by: Radu Matei