Head of the Romanian Army: Russia is jamming the GPS of ships in Romanian territorial waters

Russia is “actively and constantly” jamming the GPS communications of ships in Romanian territorial waters, which causes the risk of collisions, and Romania and NATO must prepare for a long-term confrontation with the regime of the Russian Federation, the Head of State said the Army Chief of Staff, General Daniel Petrescu.

“War has returned to Europe. It is a war chosen by Russia, which for Ukraine is a war of national survival and a fight for Western values. We do not see the end of this war now, and while we admire the resilience of Ukrainian society in the face of Russian attacks, we must also prepare for a long-term confrontation with the regime of the Russian Federation,” General Petrescu said in a statement, delivered in English , at the Euroatlantic Resilience Forum, organized in Bucharest by the Euroatlantic Center for Resilience.

“We feel this confrontation very well especially in the Eastern Flank of NATO and especially in the region where they come from, the Black Sea. The war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine fundamentally destabilized the Black Sea region, and caused feelings of insecurity among the riparian countries, with repercussions on the security environment”, said Daniel Petrescu, in a live intervention from Washington. The head of the Romanian army thus specified that “the Black Sea has become an area of ​​military operations of Russia”.

“From here, missiles are launched towards Ukraine, on its civil or military infrastructure. The region has become the scene of increasingly frequent military actions, with maritime incidents and actions limiting the free movement of ships. Just last night (night from Wednesday to Thursday, n.r.), anti-aircraft alarms sounded in Ukrainian cities, close to the border with Romania, announcing imminent attacks. But such things do not only happen in Ukraine: alert messages, which warn of the possibility of objects falling from the airspace, are frequently sent by Romanian citizens who live in the Delta, close to the Ukrainian ports that are constantly under attack by the Russians,” said Petrescu. These attacks have become the “new normal” and “the war in Ukraine will continue to generate regional instability and risks to the security of Romania and the region”, General Petrescu also said.

“There is a constant risk associated with the increasing probability of incidents at the NATO border, caused by the possibility that certain drones or missiles may miss. Romania’s infrastructure or commercial ships in (Romania’s) territorial waters could be hit by mistake,” stated Daniel Petrescu.

Another danger highlighted by the head of the Romanian army is the drifting sea mines in the Black Sea.

The Army Chief of Staff claimed that, in this context, Romania will have to have an approach that leads to “increasing the resilience” of Romanian society in the face of new threats, by supporting the population “in relation to NATO and the USA, in particular” , the presence of NATO troops in Romania, the budget allocated to defense, the development of national defense programs and the interoperability with the US army of weapons systems such as Himars, Patriot, F-16 or Piranha vehicles.