Romanian authorities have set out detailed procedures for dealing with unauthorised aircraft entering national airspace, with the destruction of drones or aircraft to be used only as a final measure, Defence Minister Ionuţ Moşteanu said following a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT) on September 25, according to Bursa. 

The procedures were outlined after a Russian drone was detected in Romanian national airspace following Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube on September 13. Russian fighter jets have also entered Estonian airspace in recent days, and large numbers of drones were shot down over Poland, in what is seen as Russia testing Nato’s defences. 

Moşteanu said intervention against unauthorised aircraft will follow a graduated approach. For drones, the response will proceed in three stages — identification, jamming and, if those measures fail, destruction — while further technical details of the procedures remain classified, he added.

In the case of military aircraft, the decision to use force rests with the mission commander; for civilian aircraft, responsibility remains with the minister, as has been the practice since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The measures build on the Law on Intervention against Unauthorised Aircraft, which was approved in the spring and entered into force on May 19. The law has been supplemented with methodologies aimed at protecting critical targets from drone threats, according to the minister’s statement.

A project to establish clear lines of command for authorising the shooting down of unauthorised aircraft has been drafted, Moşteanu said.

Under the proposed arrangements, commanders leading drone counter-operations would exercise operational control, while decisions on military aircraft engagement would adhere to Nato rules and be taken by the mission commander, with destruction ordered only if the aircraft fails to depart Romanian airspace.

Officials framed the updated procedures as balancing national security and proportionality, ensuring that non-kinetic measures are tried before resorting to lethal force. The minister stressed that the staged approach is intended to reduce the risk of unnecessary escalation while protecting critical infrastructure and civilian populations.

“Intervention against unauthorised aircraft, including the destruction of drones, will be applied only as a last resort, after taking gradual steps, if they do not leave Romanian airspace,” Moşteanu said after the CSAT meeting on September 25.