NATO members Latvia and Romania said a Russian drone had violated their airspace over the weekend, potentially escalating tensions between Russia and the NATO military alliance.
The Latvian government said Sunday that a Russian drone had crashed in the country's eastern airspace the previous day, likely coming in from Belarus.
Meanwhile, Romania's foreign ministry said on Sunday that a “criminal” Russian drone had violated the country's airspace while targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
NATO's outgoing deputy secretary-general, Mircea Joana, a former Romanian diplomat, said NATO condemns Russia's violation of Romanian airspace.
“While we have no information that Russia has deliberately attacked an ally, such actions are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” he wrote on Twitter.
Article 5 of NATO states that if a NATO member state comes under attack, all member states will come to its defense.
“I'm more concerned about Latvia,” Andrew Danieli, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, told Fox News Digital. “To get from Ukraine to Latvia, you have to go all the way through Belarus.”
“If we were to test NATO's Article 5, we would basically send in a fully immobilized drone and have it divert into Latvian airspace to see what the reaction would be as a low-risk move by Russia.”
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Firefighters extinguish a truck fire at the site of a warehouse facility hit by a Russian drone strike during Russia's offensive against Ukraine, in the village of Murovane outside Lviv, Ukraine, on September 6, 2024.
The Latvian military also said there was no indication that Moscow or Minsk had deliberately flown the drones into the country.
“It certainly could have been intentional,” Danieli argued. “I think the Latvian side wants to respond somehow. To say, 'Oh, Russia tried to attack with a drone,' would necessitate a much bigger response. So I think calm is prevailing right now, but more information could come out and it could happen again in the coming months.”
Romania's Defense Ministry said Russia had attacked Ukraine near the country's border early on Sunday and that two Romanian F-16 fighter jets had taken off from an airbase at around 2:30 a.m. local time to “monitor the situation.”
Pieces of the drone were found in a Romanian village near the Danube River and authorities are searching other areas where debris may have fallen.
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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielis Landsbergis said such incidents were “unthinkable” three years ago but are now “everyday occurrence”. Written In a post on Sunday to X.
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“Nothing should land in Ukraine, Latvia or anywhere on NATO territory, but this is the new reality brought about by our inaction. Of course, Lithuania will support a strong allied response.”
Ukraine's new foreign minister, Andriy Sibikha, said the incident was a “stark reminder that Russia's aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine.”
The war has intensified in recent weeks as Russia launched major attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure and came close to seizing Pokrovsk, a key transport hub that could consolidate its control over the Donetsk region.
Russian troops are advancing on the front line in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to gain control over the entire Donbas region.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine has stepped up long-range attacks into Russia and is calling on its Western allies to lift restrictions on the use of weapons it provides for attacks deep inside Russia.
