Romania should learn from Poland how to react in such situations, said MEP Victor Negrescu (S&D) on Wednesday after NATO’s anti-aircraft defence helped Poland shoot down Russian drones that had invaded Polish airspace early Wednesday morning.
The Romanian MEP welcomed Poland’s reaction.
„This morning, most MEPs were talking about what happened and the fact that, behold, Russian drones have become a threat on the territory of the European Union and on the territory of NATO. We welcome the strong and effective response given by the Polish military forces in partnership with NATO. We are also very attentive to the reaction that the Polish government will have and we need firm coordination, so that the response that Europe will give, and NATO will give, will be a serious, strong, but proportionate one and that these tensions do not further escalate. In this logic, Romania must learn from Poland how to react in such situations,” Negrescu told a group of Romanian journalists in Strasbourg.
According to the Social Democrat MEP, about the presence of drones near Romania’s border with Ukraine as well, it is important to show the Russian Federation that we are capable of defending ourselves, and it is very important to have a quick reaction. „Obviously, if such drones reach the Romanian airspace further than the border area, we must automatically be able to react as quickly,” said Negrescu.
He went on to say that there are several means by which NATO can respond and send the Russian Federation a strong message and a strong condemnation of what happened.
„At the same time, I would prefer not to escalate this conflict and, certainly, we need to invest more in securing our borders, both by air and by sea. That is why we have started an initiative, I convinced my fellow MEPs to come up with a request to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in which we explicitly asked that the future European Black Sea Security Hub be created in Romania.”
In Negrescu’s opinion, the fact that the State of the EU address, delivered to a plenary session of the European Parliament by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, focused heavily on geopolitical issues proves that today’s Europe has the security area as its main priority.
„There are geopolitical challenges that affect the security of the European Union and, consequently, as mentioned, a lot of our European resources will be allocated in this direction. Consequently, it is a priority for Romania to access all the funding opportunities available for the defence area. In this line of thought, a few months ago, I sent a letter to the President of the European Commission asking that the frontline countries be privileged in the area of financial allocations, to which the President of the European Commission replied in writing, which is also reflected in the fact that Romania is today the second beneficiary of funds under the SAFE program, those loans that are granted precisely to invest in the defence area, and also in military mobility,” the EP vice-president concluded. AGERPRES
