00:00Now I'd like to bring in the Romanian diplomat and politician Mircea Gianna, former Deputy
00:04Secretary General of NATO until 2024, and now one of the country's most prominent voices on
00:09security and defence. So good morning, sir. Thank you so much for being with us here
00:13on Europe Today. First, everyone's wondering what the situation now is like in Galatia and
00:18do people feel safe? You know, the shock of the Russian
00:26incursion and explosion on a block of apartments in Galatia is still here with us. Just for
00:33our viewers to see, Galatia is a big city, industrial city on the Danube. On the other
00:39side of the river, there is Ukraine. And Russia is constantly attacking infrastructure on the
00:46Ukrainian side. And a few times, and this was the most severe incident, they crossed the
00:51border, the airspace of Romania, NATO country. And that's why in Galatia, in the Danube delta,
00:57there is a little bit of concern that has been accumulated in time in the four years
01:02and something before. And Romania's air force couldn't intercept this
01:05drone. Why is that? You know, a Romanian pilot, an F-16 pilot shot
01:10down a drone in Estonia just a few days back. They didn't have enough time and space to shoot.
01:16And the question is, whether you shoot a drone, do you need an F-16? Do you need an F
01:23-35? Do you
01:24need a missile which is so expensive? So I think the lesson from this, and I think we should have
01:30learned it all over the eastern flank of NATO sooner, is that you need adequate anti-drone
01:38sensors, anti-drone equipment, faster procurement systems, because these things change so fast.
01:43The innovation cycle for drone war is changing so fast that I think our systems are robust,
01:50but sometimes there is basically this balance between the kind of assets we have and the kind
01:55of needs we actually have for such incidents. Because if this happened once, it's going to
01:59happen again. And Romania is clearly not prepared for these kind of frequent drone incursions.
02:04We have a specific geographical situation, as I mentioned, is basically very close. So I think
02:09we have to find adequate solutions. You know, acoustic sensors, this is something that technology
02:14exists. You know, anti-drone systems, this technology exists. The question that we have
02:19to procure so much for everything, from high intensity war, or, you know, high level gear,
02:26let's say lower end technology like this one is needed. And I think we have to really prioritize
02:31better and internalize the lessons learned from Iran and from Ukraine, because the two fusion
02:37of lessons learned, and I think we have to do much better. Not only Romania, but I think
02:41we see such incidents all along the eastern planks, especially the countries neighboring
02:45Ukraine, like Romania is.
02:47And what would be the next step? And with the support of NATO here, of course, if this happens
02:51again and escalates?
02:53You know, I think we have to do a much better effort to try to find the right kind of
03:00air and
03:00missile defense for NATO in general. So if for mid-altitude and high altitude,
03:07let's say there are some things in place, Patriot missiles, you know, the F-16s, the F-35s,
03:13NATO operations, for this basically low altitude things, we are still lacking the kind of adequate
03:20means. They do exist on the market. You can acquire them. The only thing is that you have
03:25to put your right priorities in the right place. Try to make sure that you keep up with the innovation
03:30cycle. This electronic jamming, this don't change basically every other few months. But I think
03:37we have to do a much, much faster cycle of procurement and adaptation to this new world.
03:41Okay. Thank you so much for that, for joining us here this morning.
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