President Nicusor Dan strongly condemns 'any involvement of the Russian Federation in acts of sabotage on Romania's territory,' adding that 'such actions are unacceptable and represent a serious violation of our country's sovereignty and security.'

The President also referred to recent incidents in the Black Sea, within Romania's national maritime zone.

'No foreign entity has the right to act in this manner on the territory of Romania or other European states. For years, Russia has used a diverse arsenal of methods to weaken European democracies. Attempts to influence electoral processes, disinformation campaigns, information warfare, cyberattacks and acts of sabotage are all part of Russia's hybrid warfare against Europe. In recent weeks, the Russian Federation has escalated its actions and provocations against civilian shipping in the Black Sea,' the head of state wrote on Tuesday on X platform.

Nicusor Dan said these were not isolated incidents unrelated to one another, 'but part of a premeditated and coordinated campaign aimed at creating divisions within our societies and discouraging European states from committing to their own security and collective defence.'

In this context, he referred to the hybrid warfare waged by Russia.

'We must not deceive ourselves about the nature of this threat. Hybrid warfare has been conducted for years in various forms, with the same objective of weakening European states from within and undermining solidarity between them. The intensification of these actions calls for increased vigilance and continuous risk assessment,' the President said.

Against this backdrop, he announced that the Romanian state would act decisively to prevent such incidents, identify those involved and protect the country's citizens and critical infrastructure.

'At the same time, we will continue to work closely with our NATO allies and partners in the European Union. I commend the effectiveness of all the professionals from the [Romanian Intelligence Service] SRI, the [Ministry of Internal Affairs] MAI, the [Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism] DIICOT and the [Directorate General of Defence Intelligence] DGIA who acted to identify both those who started the fire at the Carfil industrial site and the real perpetrators behind this provocative act,' he added.

Nicusor Dan stressed that it was essential for Romanian state institutions to identify such attacks and, wherever possible, prevent them.

'The investigations into the sabotage at Carfil once again demonstrate how frequently hostile entities have come to use social media to recruit individuals for manipulation, going as far as involving them in illegal activities. People must be aware of these dangers and treat with the utmost caution the information circulating online,' the President added.

He thanked Romania's foreign partners for their cooperation with Romanian agencies, adding that 'our response must be joint, coordinated and credible, based on solidarity and the ability to act together.'

The Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) announced on Monday that they had documented the criminal activities of three foreign nationals, two Belarusians and one Ukrainian residing in EU member states and belonging to a sabotage network coordinated from the Russian Federation, who were involved in the explosion at the Carfil industrial site in Brasov, a subsidiary of ROMARM. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)