Romania in talks with Ukraine on EU-funded drone production – Reuters

Romania has opened discussions with Ukraine on producing drones under a new European Union defence funding programme.

Source: Reuters, citing a Romanian government defence source, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Russian drones targeting Ukraine have crossed into Romanian airspace in recent years, dropping debris on its territory more than 20 times.

Quote from the Romanian source: "We need more air defences, nobody has them."

More details: The source added that Romania is negotiating with Ukraine, whose drone technology has been "battle tested at large scale", to produce unmanned systems as part of a project financed through the EU’s SAFE rearmament initiative.

Romania is to receive €16.6 billion under the SAFE programme.

Romania’s air defence currently includes F-16 fighter jets, Patriot systems, Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket launchers, South Korean short-range surface-to-air missiles Chiron and German anti-aircraft self-propelled systems Gepard.

Background:

• In May 2025, Ilie Bolojan, then acting Romanian president, signed a law expanding the Romanian armed forces’ powers, enabling troops to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are unlawfully in the country’s airspace.
•  On 13 September, Russian drones violated Romanian airspace.

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