Former Defense Minister Radu Miruta stated on Wednesday, while presenting a review of his term, that the internal mechanism for predicting the entry of drones into Romanian airspace "has proven successful."
He also announced that the European SAFE program allocates 2.2 billion lei for the development of counter-drone capabilities, agerpres reports.
"We have developed an internal prediction mechanism that has proven successful; today, Romania finds itself in a position where it has surpassed many benchmarksespecially when compared to other countries facing similar circumstancesnot only in terms of the number of drones shot down, but also in the manner in which they were intercepted. Two drones were brought down just four minutes apart. They were downed within two minutes of entering Romanian airspace, thanks to fighter jets that were perfectly positioned for the intercept. This serves as evidence of the behind-the-scenes workwork which, unfortunately for the Romanian public, remains classifiedthat has been carried out at the Ministry of Defence," said Miruta during a press conference at the USR headquarters.
He added that the Romanian Army has faced a "major deficit" in personnel over the years, but that measures have been taken to address this issue.
"Seven thousand young people have joined the Ministry of Defence. We allocated 3,500 [military personnel Ed.] in the budget for the volunteer army and signed a Government Decision to that effect. Regarding human resources, we introduced an English language requirement for generals. There was some minor discontent in certain quarters, but we implemented it, and it has remained in place. We also introduced a mechanism to provide justification for promotions to the rank of general," the former minister stated.
Miruta stated that, during his nine-month tenure, 238 inspections were carried outcompared to a previous maximum of 120. As a result of these checks, projects deemed suspiciouswith a total value of 800 million leiwere halted, and 12 military commanders and their deputies were removed from their positions.
"Over the course of eight months, I managed to reduce travel expenses for the minister's office by a factor of 5.4 compared to 2024. They also decreased in 2025, most likely due to a similar policy implemented by my colleague Ionut Mosteanu. I established a committee within the Ministry to review all trips abroad; so far, this has resulted in savings of six million leiexcluding the minister's office," said Miruta.
Regarding military procurement, the former minister stated that he found numerous requests from the Army that had not been addressed, even though some had been submitted as early as 2024.
"And please know that the military personnel are not to blame. I found documents at the Ministry of Defence showing that these items had been requesteditemizedback in 2024. Nothing happened. In February, I sent a formal communication to the NATO Secretary General, specifying exactly what capabilities we believe are available, what we intend to do with each one, and the justification for it. At the military levela rare occurrencea strategic order was issued by the NATO commander, which technically validated these requests from Romania," he said.
Referring to the Steaua Army Sports Club, Miruta stated that discussions regarding an investor taking over the team's operations have advanced considerably.
"The interim government cannot amend the law that is necessary for this to happen," he said.
Regarding the transport sector, the former minister mentioned that he intervened to prevent the increase in the metro fare from 5 to 7 lei.
"I hope I have exerted enough public pressure to prevent the PSD from bringing backas I had discoveredthe signed order for an increase from 5 to 7 lei," he stated.
Miruta also stated that the PESA electric trains, which had been stationed at the Bucharest Obor railway station, have been put into servicefollowing a period during which, according to him, the warranty period was running out and CFR was incurring losses.
"I launched the Bala projecta project whose non-realization proved to be highly dangerous, as it led to the shutdown of the two reactors at Cernavodawhich the PSD had kept stalled in a drawer. (...) I introduced rigorous criteria for state-owned enterprises and initiated selection processes for Metrorex, CNAIR, and CFR. In the transport sector, I signed off on the A7 and A8 motorway projectspart of the SAFE [program]which are valued at 4.25 billion euros," he said.
The former minister also stated that he had requested the conclusion of a protocol between the State Inspectorate for Road Transport Control (ISCTR), CNAIR, the Romanian Customs Authority, and the SRI, aimed at curbing the movement of trucks that exceed the maximum permissible weight.
"In May, we found over 14,000 illegal crossings on just a single sensorspecifically in the direction of travel from Constanta toward Bucharest. This data exists; it is recorded every single minute, yet no one has been willing to make a decision regarding these illegal acts. In the Port of Constanta, certain measures were takenby the port authorities, as well as by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs," added Miruta.
