Romania summons Russian envoy as it shoots down third intruding drone
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- Romania shot down three Russian drones in three consecutive days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), with an F-16 fighter jet downing the latest over the Black Sea on Sunday morning.
- Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said Bucharest summoned Russia's ambassador to protest what she called "repeated violations" of Romanian, NATO, and EU airspace.
- President Nicusor Dan identified Friday's drone as a Shahed model — the same unmanned aircraft Russia uses in its strikes on Ukraine.
- NATO spokesperson Colonel Martin O'Donnell called the violations "unacceptable and intolerable," and NATO chief Mark Rutte described Moscow's behavior as "reckless" and a "danger to us all."
- The incursions fit a wider pattern: a drone struck an apartment building in Galati in late May (the first hit on a populated area in a NATO country), a maritime drone exploded at Constanta port last month, and Baltic airspace violations helped collapse Latvia's government in May.
- US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker pledged the alliance will "defend every inch" of its territory, while O'Donnell noted NATO members are "actively acquiring ground-based interceptors" to bolster air defenses.
Why it matters: Romania's three interceptions in three days mark a sharp escalation in how directly NATO territory is being touched by Russia's drone war, moving from isolated incidents to a near-daily pattern. The US has now publicly pledged to "defend every inch" of NATO territory and the alliance is acquiring ground-based interceptors — a concrete military buildup that follows years of diplomatic warnings.
