Russian Consul General in Constanta to be declared persona non grata, consulate to be closed – President of Romania
Romanian President Nicușor Dan, following a meeting of the National Security Council, announced the decision to close the Consulate General of Russia in Constanta and expel the consul, the ezine Digi24 has said.
"A serious incident occurred last night, resulting in two citizens being injured, and full responsibility for this lies with Russia. The Consul General of Russia in Constanta is declared persona non grata, and the consulate in Constanta will be closed," Digi24 quotes the president as saying.
The council meeting was held after a Russian drone crashed into a residential building in Galati, resulting in an explosion and a fire in an apartment located on the 10th floor of the building.
He also stated that "we had a Russian Geran-2 drone that flew from Russia." "We know the trajectory, we know where it passed through Ukraine, we know where it entered Romania, being part of a swarm of 43 Russian drones, of which only one reached Romanian territory," the President of Romania emphasized. Dan thanked partners for the solidarity "shown both individually and within multilateral formats, partners in the European Union, partners in NATO."
"We also discussed issues of civil defense at the meeting of the National Security Council. Last night the reaction was very fast, and the Minister of Internal Affairs informed us about the measures already taken for the entire potentially affected territory, increasing the number of personnel and measures. So in this direction, we are ready," the head of the Romanian state added.
As reported earlier, Dan discussed the incident in Galati with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, which he called "the most serious security incident that has occurred on Romanian territory since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine." In turn, Rutte expressed "absolute solidarity" of the Alliance with Romania and confirmed that NATO is "ready to defend every inch of allied territory."
Acting Prime Minister of Romania Ilie Bolojan earlier reported that in response to a Russian drone hitting a high-rise building in the city of Galati on the night of May 29, official Bucharest is considering imposing sanctions against Russian diplomats.
