BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the war has repeatedly spilled across Romania's border as drones violate the airspace of the neighboring European Union and NATO member.

Now Romania is trying something new to stop the incursions: shooting down the drones.

Romanian pilots shot down the first of three drones in as many days from F-16 fighter jets starting Friday as Russia intensified attacks against Ukraine near the border. After determining the drones were of Russian origin, Romania summoned Moscow’s ambassador in protest and expelled a Russian diplomat on Monday.

Drones have crossed into Romanian territory multiple times from Ukraine to the north and east, including in May when a drone injured a mother and child after crashing into an apartment block in the eastern town of Galati along the Danube River.

Romanian authorities largely responded by scrambling jets, collecting debris, erecting fallout shelters near the border and frequently admonishing Moscow for its war spilling into its territory.

Romania and Poland also acquired the MEROPS system, which fires short counter-drones to take down incoming stray drones, following a spate of incursions along NATO’s eastern flank late last year.

Drones have crossed into the territories of multiple EU countries, but have been a persistent problem for Romania's leadership in the capital Bucharest. At least 19 have entered Romania’s airspace this year, while there have been 50 cases of drones or drone fragments identified on its territory since the war started in 2022, according to Romania's Ministry of National Defense.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Sunday congratulated the Romanian pilots for downing the drones and blamed Russia for the incursions.

“It is unacceptable and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romanian airspace,” he said.

Romania shifts the approach to stray drones

Despite passing legislation last year to shoot down drones in its airspace, which was strongly opposed by nationalist political parties, Romania has avoided shooting them down until now.

Romanian military analyst Radu Tudor said the May drone incident in Galati may have “changed something in the Romanian authorities’ mentality” in how to approach the issue.

“This was somehow a kind of psychological trigger, in order to say: ‘OK, enough is enough,’” Tudor said. “Until now, it probably was an Allied decision in NATO not to respond with firepower, because it was somehow a danger of escalation.”

“I think it’s not only a change of attitude of Romania, I think it’s a change of attitude in NATO,” he added.

Before the three interceptions over the past week, Romanian pilots also shot down a stray Ukrainian drone above Estonia in May. Romanian pilots and planes are based in Lithuania to provide broad strike capabilities for NATO.

“They saw so many signals that Russia is trying to provoke NATO,” Tudor said. “Romania is the only NATO country who shot down four drones on the eastern flank — three on Romania and one in Estonia.”

The message sent to Moscow mirrors a statement by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the organization's summit in Ankara, Turkey, earlier this month: “‘Don’t play with us’.”

Russian diplomat expelled

In response to the drone incursions, Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russia’s ambassador in Bucharest on Monday and presented him with fragments of a drone, saying Moscow “bears exclusive responsibility for all these grave incidents.” The ministry also expelled a member of the Russian mission, who was given five days to leave the country.

“The Russian side learned what they already knew: the drones downed on Romanian territory belong to them,” Foreign Minister Oana Toiu wrote in a post on X. “Drone fragments recovered by the Ministry of National Defence and the ongoing prosecutor investigation confirm their Russian origin beyond any doubt.”

The Russian embassy in Romania responded in a statement posted on its Facebook page, saying Russia “has never directed and does not direct combat drones” to Romanian territory and denied the allegation as “completely unfounded.”

“An unprovoked expulsion of a Russian employee will not go unanswered,” the embassy said.

Tactical shift to down errant drones

Cristian Popovici, the Romanian defense ministry’s head of public relations and a former air defense officer, said tactics have been developed to eliminate errant drones.

“We recorded more than 100 attacks with drones near our border with Ukraine, and many of them resulted in debris or even drones that penetrated our airspace,” he told The Associated Press. “Our pilots and our air force, we developed the tactics, procedures, and now we can face and we can eliminate this threat.”

The change began when Romanian pilots shot down a drone over Estonian airspace and from that point the military applied “lessons learned” and had a “100% rate success in three days with three drones,” Popovici said.

Despite the new approach to stray drones, Popovici said Romania does not plan to become entangled in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are in a peacetime, we are not involved in this fight,” he said. “If Russia wants to escalate with NATO, it’s up to them. I’m not sure it’s a wise move now.”

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.