Romania and Latvia, both NATO members and supporters of Ukraine in its 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia, on Sunday were investigating instances of Russian drones that crashed after breaching their airspace, authorities in both countries said.
The incidents prompted officials to call for measures to act jointly to counter Russia air incursions.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana denounced the incidents as “irresponsible and potentially dangerous”, while saying there was no indication of a deliberate attack on Alliance member-states.
The Romanian defence ministry said the “radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine”.
[…]
In Latvia, which borders both Russia and its close ally Belarus, President Edgars Rinkevics posted on social media platform X that his government sought a common NATO response.
“The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively,” Rinkevics wrote.
[…]
“There weren’t serious issues on the ground,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters on Sunday after consulting with the defence minister.
“(Attacks) will continue. That is it, we have a war on the border.”
I guess this means war 🤷
Is incompetence a valid casus belli? As Belarus having to shoot down drones on a regular basis shows, the Russian armed forces can’t aim half of their drones in any meaningful way.
There are a lot of different options to escalate, without starting a full scale war. Giving Ukraine certain weapons is an option. Long range missiles and warships come to mind. Latvia could for example produce long range drones for Ukraine.