President Nicusor Dan declared on Friday that the decision to expel the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Constanta and close the consulate represents "a message proportional to the lack of respect towards a country that is not part of the war."
"This expulsion of the consul and the closure of the consulate is a message in a diplomatic hierarchy that is proportional to what happened today, to the lack of respect towards a country that is not part of this war," said Nicusor Dan after visiting the block affected by the military drone crash.
Asked about the possibility of annihilating such a drone, Nicusor Dan said: "With airplanes is the least optimal method and that is precisely why (...) we have made significant progress in identifying them and we have some progress in surface instruments that can defend."
"We are in a process that I hope will be as quick as possible," added Nicusor Dan.
Romania did not have anti-aircraft solutions for drones, because this technology was not developed before the war in Ukraine, the head of state explained.
"We are all in the same situation, I am talking about European countries, because it is a war that developed a technology that did not exist before this war, there are no equipment factories that are intended for this type of equipment and then everyone, as quickly as possible, tries to update themselves," Nicusor Dan also stated.
He pointed out that Romania currently has four projects that are trying to solve the problem of drone interception.
"We are not the only ones facing this problem, it is a problem that concerns both NATO and the European Union and we are all in a process of updating ourselves to the new situation," reiterated the head of state.
NATO officials will send additional equipment to our country, assured Nicusor Dan, taking into account the fact that there is a lack of such equipment throughout the continent, and a response in this regard will come in the coming weeks, as it is a process that must be accelerated as much as possible.
"It is an ongoing process that the Romanian state is carrying out to defend itself, as all the countries on the Eastern Flank are doing," added Nicusor Dan, emphasizing that Russia is responsible for this incident.
The head of state visited the block where the military drone fell, accompanied by the interim ministers of National Defense and Internal Affairs, Radu Miruţă and Cătălin Predoiu, respectively.
Previously, the president visited the child and woman injured in the incident at the hospital.
During the morning, the head of state convened the Supreme Council of National Defense. At the end of the meeting, he announced the declaration of the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Constanta as persona non grata and the closure of the Consulate.
"Last night, we had a serious incident in which two Romanian citizens were injured and the entire responsibility for this incident lies with Russia, a country that has been waging a war of aggression for more than four years against Ukraine. In view of this situation, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Constanta has been declared persona non grata and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Constanta will close," stated President Nicusor Dan after the meeting.
Comentează