Apartment in Galati, Romania, struck by a Russian drone [Xinhua=Yonhap News]

Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, has summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the repeated incursions of Russian drones into its airspace and has expelled a member of the Russian embassy staff.

According to Romania's state news agency Agerpres on the 27th (local time), Oana Toiu, the Romanian Foreign Minister, announced on social media the previous day that she had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the drone incursions.

"Romanian airspace is also the airspace of the European Union (EU) and NATO," she emphasized. "The Russian Federation's continued violation of Romanian airspace is neither acceptable nor tolerable."

An expulsion order was issued for a member of the Russian embassy. In a statement released that day, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that it had declared one employee of the Russian embassy persona non grata and ordered them to leave Romania within five days.

This move by Romania comes immediately after Russian drones violated its airspace for two consecutive days. The Romanian military shot down the intruding drones on both the 24th and 25th. This marks the first time the Romanian military has directly scrambled fighter jets to shoot down drones that crossed its border.

Because Romania shares a border of approximately 650 km with Ukraine, it is frequently affected by Russian drones attacking Ukraine that stray from their flight paths and enter Romanian airspace. In May, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in the Galati region of eastern Romania, near the Ukrainian border, injuring two residents.

According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, a total of 33 cases of Russian drone incursions have been reported since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Additionally, there have been 50 instances where drones or their debris were found on Romanian territory.

As one of the frontline NATO nations, Romania has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an illegal war of aggression and has maintained support for Ukraine. In March of this year, it signed an agreement with Ukraine to pursue the joint production of drones.

Since the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East, Romania has also supported the U.S. by approving the deployment of American aerial refueling tankers and surveillance equipment on its soil. Approximately 1,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Romania.