Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský commented on the recent incident involving a Russian drone that violated Romania’s airspace.

Writing on X, Lipavský stressed that he does not believe the drone ended up in Romania’s airspace by accident:

“Russia continues to provoke. Last night it was Romania. I don’t believe in Russia’s ‘mistakes.’ As NATO allies, we remain vigilant.”

According to him, Russia must pay a tangible price for its provocations against NATO. “That is why the Czech Republic supports further sanctions,” Lipavský concluded.

On Saturday, Romanian authorities issued a RO-Alert for the northern part of Tulcea County, warning residents about the possible fall of objects from airspace.

In its statement, the ministry said a Geran drone used by Russia had entered Romanian airspace.

It added that the drone “orbited for about 50 minutes, from north-east of [the village of] Chilia Veche to south-west of Izmail, and left national airspace near the town of Pardina, heading towards Ukraine”.

Poland had already denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace last week, calling on Moscow to avoid further “provocations”. Polish fighter jets scrambled on Saturday in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.

Romania, a Nato member, has had several drone fragments crash on its territory since Moscow invaded Ukraine, especially as Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian ports.

In a statement after the drone entry on Saturday, Romania’s defence ministry said it “strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasises that they represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area”.

It added that “such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s lack of respect for international law”.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the incident was unacceptable and accused Moscow of a “reckless escalation”.

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