Russian drones that breach Romania's airspace will be shot down, just as the Poles did; Romanian authorities are in permanent contact with the NATO command center, Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu declared on Saturday at the Political Insider show on broadcaster Prima TV.

'Every week there are such cases - and the Defense Ministry makes them public - of drones spotted in northern Dobrogea, very close to the border, and last night too the air policing planes scrambled to watch over the safety of the citizens. Had a drone entered Romanian airspace, it would have been shot down. Likewise, the anti-aircraft systems on the ground, in the highly populated areas along the Danube Chilia arm, in northern Dobrogea, are ready to respond at any time if drones enter our airspace, just as the Poles did. We will protect our country and the safety of every citizen,' said Mosteanu.

Asked if Russian drones violating Romania's airspace would be shot down, Mosteanu replied: 'Exactly. Now that the law cleared Parliament, we have a command hierarchy in place and, for certain cases, I, in my capacity as minister in charge, must approve the engagement, and I will do so if needed. There have been cases before, in the past two months, where such approvals were requested when certain aircraft entered the Romanian controlled area, and I gave them. We are in permanent contact with the NATO command center, and we act together with our allies.'

Regarding the drone incident in Poland, the Defense minister considers that it was a provocation by Russia to test NATO's reaction, and not a coincidence or an accident.

'I think the correct wording is 'tested NATO's reaction', not 'attacked Poland'. Of course this didn't happen by chance, it wasn't an accident. We are talking about several drones, not just one. A single one may be defective or may be jammed by certain systems. It has happened before in Poland, it happened in Romania too. Yes, but this wasn't the case, there were several, not just one. (...) It was a provocation, a test. Poland's response, the response of the allies, is firm,' Mosteanu said, stressing that such issues call for the invocation of Article 4, which requires allied states to consult in order to decide together on the next steps. 'What is important after this provocation is to understand that we will have to ramp up allied support to the states on the eastern flank. We are talking about Poland, but also about Romania, and there is need for an enhanced allied military presence, for enhanced advanced air policing missions. We now have five German planes on Romanian soil. Two of them are on permanent alert,' Mosteanu added. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)