Stoltenberg: NATO sees no indication of deliberate Russian attack against Romania.

NATO sees no indication that the drone fragments found on Romanian soil were a result of a deliberate Russian attack against the Alliance member Romania, Reuters reported[1] on Sept.

7, citing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "We don't have any information indicating an intentional attack by Russia, and we are awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation," the NATO chief told EU lawmakers. Stoltenberg did stress that Russian strikes against Ukraine in close vicinity to the allies' borders pose risks to NATO.

"It demonstrates the risks of incidents and accidents... Regardless of that outcome (of the investigation), what we have seen of course is a lot of fighting and also air attacks close to NATO borders," Stoltenberg said. Russian forces have repeatedly targeted[2] Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, lying not far from the Romanian border, after Moscow's unilateral termination[3] of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Following a drone attack overnight on Sept.

4, Ukraine said that some of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) had fallen and detonated on Romanian soil. Bucharest initially denied[4] the report, only to change their statement on Sept.

6 when Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar confirmed[5] that what appears to be drone fragments had been found on Romania's side of the Danube River. The Romanian government briefed[6] its NATO allies on the incident on Sept.

6 during a meeting of the Alliance's envoys in Brussels. "The Romanian authorities have confirmed that debris, possibly from a drone, has been found on Romanian soil, close to the border with Ukraine," NATO spokesperson Dylan White commented. "Allies expressed strong solidarity with Romania," White said. "We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we remain in close contact with our ally Romania."

This is not the first incident of a Russian projectile crashing on NATO soil. In May, Polish authorities uncovered[7] remnants of what was likely a Russian Kh-55 missile near the Polish town of Bydgoszcz. Warsaw commented[8] on the incident that the projectile was not aimed at Poland and likely ended up on Polish territory due to malfunction.

Romania plans to double transit capacity of Ukrainian grain

Romania plans to increase the transit capacity of Ukrainian grain from 2 million metric tons to 4 million every month, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Aug.

11, the Romanian news agency Agerpres reported.

[9] Martin Fornusek

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

  1. ^ reported (www.reuters.com)
  2. ^ targeted (kyivindependent.com)
  3. ^ termination (kyivindependent.com)
  4. ^ denied (kyivindependent.com)
  5. ^ confirmed (kyivindependent.com)
  6. ^ briefed (apnews.com)
  7. ^ uncovered (kyivindependent.com)
  8. ^ commented (www.eurointegration.com.ua)
  9. ^ Romania plans to double transit capacity of Ukrainian grainRomania plans to increase the transit capacity of Ukrainian grain from 2 million metric tons to 4 million every month, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Aug.

    11, the Romanian news agency Agerpres reported. (kyivindependent.com)

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