Government Approves Law Allowing Military to Down Airspace Drones

The government in Bucharest has adopted two draft laws to regulate the modalities of intervention in peacetime, in the case of foreign drones entering the country’s airspace. The two initiatives were launched one year and three months after the first such incident, when pieces of a Russian drone from the war in Ukraine fell on national territory, in Tulcea County, at Plauru. More similar incidents occurred since then.

In order to enter into force, the initiatives must be debated and voted on by Parliament, and then promulgated by the president. The first draft establishes which institutions will take decisions to prevent or counteract entries into national airspace by aircraft, drones and other aerial vehicles.

The government spokesperson explained: “unmanned aerial vehicles will benefit from the attention and rigors that are currently provided for aircraft with a pilot on board from a civilian perspective, but also from a military perspective”.

The second draft refers to “the carrying out of missions and operations on the territory of the Romanian state, in order to take the necessary measures to protect the life, health, property, rights and freedoms of Romanian citizens”.

It refers to the actions that can be taken in the event of drones entering the airspace, without the need to impose a state of emergency on the territory of Romania. Among the reaction measures may be taking control of their flight, neutralization – by disabling the command and control functions, or destruction – the latter being applied as a last resort.

“The measures are ordered in relation to the level of the threat, within the limits of applicable international law, after taking into account all the specific circumstances of the event and taking into account the priority of protecting the lives of individuals”, the draft law says.