Ukrainian authorities notified Romania before the drone that drifted toward the Black Sea shore self-detonated, and all people in the area had already been evacuated at that moment, President Nicusor Dan said Friday at a press conference after attending the EU - Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro.

He said he would hold discussions on Saturday with the institutions responsible for national maritime defence.

'On the maritime side, at least for me, this is a new subject, but tomorrow I will speak with the responsible institutions so that I can fully understand the context, the equipment and any possible gaps. On the aviation side, regarding aerial drones, as you know, we have long had real-time information, so that part was easier. We have had a request for equipment from NATO since February,' the president explained.

He added that he does not currently know the exact time at which Ukraine informed Romania about the drones drifting toward national territory.

'I do not have the time at which Ukraine informed us,' he said, reiterating that there was no risk in this case.

'This risk did not exist because the time communicated by the Ukrainian side was the exact time at which the drone self-detonated. They notified us before it went off, so when it exploded, everyone had already left,' Nicusor Dan said.

According to him, Romania had previously planned defence procurement on a 20-year horizon, but this framework must now be revised in light of current technological developments.

'What we learned from the war in Ukraine is that technology advances faster than we expected, so we must revise all these plans to react in time. This is the general framework, especially regarding drones. We have done our own analysis, we know what equipment we need to buy, and we have already signed contracts. Some will be delivered in a year, others in a year and a half. In the meantime, we are asking allies to compensate for our gaps so we remain protected, especially in populated areas,' the president argued.

Following last week's drone incident in Galati, he added, Romania received new capabilities from Italy and Spain.

'We are optimistic that we will have all the capabilities needed to protect ourselves before the equipment we contracted is delivered,' he said.

The president also announced that on June 10, a NATO-level discussion on the Black Sea region will take place.

'We will again discuss how we can protect Romania,' Nicusor Dan said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)