Romania must obtain concrete support from its allies and the Ministry of National Defence must acquire and operationalise, as quickly as possible, the anti-drone systems the country needs, Senate Defence Committee chairwoman and Liberal senator Nicoleta Pauliuc said on Friday.
"A drone struck a residential block in Galati, exploded and injured two people. My thoughts are with the injured mother and son and I sincerely wish them a speedy recovery. I fully understand what all the people of Galati felt when they woke up in the middle of the night terrified. This happened in Galati, on Romanian territory. On NATO territory," Pauliuc wrote on Facebook, agerpres reports.
According to her, what happened in Galati was not a direct attack on Romania, but the effect of the war Russia is waging just a few kilometres from the country's border.
"But we felt the consequences of that war on our own skin last night, in a Romanian city," the PNL senator added.
Pauliuc highlighted that there is a legal framework for shooting down drones and that Parliament has approved national and European funding, including through SAFE, to strengthen air defence, but "these decisions must reach the ground much faster".
"I want to state clearly: we have the legal framework for shooting down drones and in Parliament we approved national and European funding - including through the SAFE mechanism - to strengthen air defence. The painful lesson of last night is that these decisions must reach the ground much faster: in systems that work and in people who know exactly what they have to do," she stressed.
The senator argued that Romania has a duty to do "several things without delay", mentioning that concrete support from allies must be secured.
"The defence of the Eastern Flank is a shared responsibility and NATO solidarity, reaffirmed throughout today, must also be visible on the ground," Pauliuc explained.
She added that the Ministry of National Defence must acquire and operationalise, as quickly as possible, the anti-drone systems the country needs, especially in the localities near the border with Ukraine, which are currently the most exposed.
Romania must also launch "serious public information and civil protection campaigns so that every citizen knows exactly what to do the moment they receive a RO-ALERT message."
"Not to frighten people, but so that no one is left alone in the face of fear. The people of Galati are strong people. They will get through this as they have overcome so much before. But it is the duty of the Romanian state to be present, to be prepared and to turn this nightmare night into a lesson that makes us safer, not just more frightened. We owe them that. Now, not tomorrow," Nicoleta Pauliuc said.
