Romanian foreign minister Oana Țoiu expressed solidarity with Estonia during the September 22 emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council after the latter’s airspace was violated by three Russian fighter jets last week.
On Friday, September 19, Russian jets entered and stayed in the airspace above the Gulf of Finland for 12 minutes, disregarding communication from two Italian pilots in F-35 fighter jets, which had taken off from NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission in Ämari Air Base in Estonia. The jets eventually left for international airspace, and Russia later denied entering Estonian airspace at all.
After the incursion, Estonia requested NATO Article 4 consultations, which require that the alliance discuss the event. It was the second NATO member to have requested consultations in recent days, following Poland’s request last week, which came after several Russian drones entered its airspace.
“Romania is fully in solidarity with Estonia, a country whose airspace was recently violated by three Russian fighter jets,” said Țoiu on Monday, September 22, in a message posted on X.
The message follows the minister’s presentation of Romania’s security interests at the United Nations Security Council emergency meeting on the same day.
“I strongly condemned the Russian reckless violations of European airspace – this time Estonia, last week Romania, before that Poland. Such provocations undermine international peace and security and blatantly ignore state sovereignty and international law,” the official noted.
Țoiu added that the emergency meeting shows that the region and the international community firmly reject Russia’s war of aggression. She reiterated that Romania is fully in solidarity with Estonia and with allies and partners when it comes to “defending sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the principles of the UN Charter.”
The minister also reiterated Romania’s support for establishing peace in the region.
Other European officials also gave firm messages against Russian incursions into NATO airspace at the UN meeting. They warned they would shoot down Russian jets or drones involved in any further violations.
The new US ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, told the Security Council that the United States and its allies “will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Addressing the Russian delegation directly, Polish deputy prime minister Radosław Sikorski said that Russia is incapable of living in peace with its neighbors. “If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission – deliberately or ‘by mistake’ – and gets shot down, and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don’t come here to whine about it. You have been warned,” Sikorski said, cited by CNN.
In reply, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, doubled down and claimed the aircraft remained in international airspace. He accused Europe of “spreading blatant lies.”
Responding to that claim, however, Estonian representatives presented the council with maps and radar recordings showing the jets crossing into Estonia’s airspace. They also presented photographs of the Russian jets, pointing to the fact that they were armed with missiles.
(Photo source: Oana Toiu on Facebook)
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