Romanian pilot awarded by the MoND leadership

On Friday, May 22^nd, Minister of National Defence, Radu Miruță, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gheorghiță Vlad, paid a working visit to the Šiauliai Air Base, in Lithuania.

The MoND delegation, which also included the Chief of Air Force Staff, Lieutenant General Leonard Baraboi, met with the soldiers of the Romanian "Carpathian Vipers" Detachment.

The main responsibilities of the Romanian airmen within the Enhanced Air Policing Mission conducted in the Baltic airspace, the cooperation with allies during the current missions, as well as the main challenges of the mission in Lithuania were main topics of discussion.

Also today, during a ceremony, Minister of National Defence awarded the "Emblem of Peace Envoy, Ist Class " to the Carpathian Vipers Detachment’s pilot who recently shot down a drone in the Estonian airspace.

When addressing the audience, Minister Miruță said that in the complicated global fight against drones, a Romanian military pilot was the one who achieved this remarkable feat and that such a feat is a team effort. “The significance of this achievement translates into years of preparation, discipline, hundreds of hours of flight, coordination and an entire team that did its job correctly. Therefore, my gratitude goes to the entire "Carpathian Vipers" detachment, to each of the nearly 100 Romanian soldiers who perform this mission here in Lithuania.

Radu Miruță also thanked the allies with whom the Romanian airmen conduct missions every day, and assured the members of the Carpathian Vipers Detachment of his full support.

"The Romanian Air Force is on its fourth deployment to Lithuania. From 2007 up to the present, generations of Romanian aviators have contributed to protecting the Baltic airspace and strengthening the Alliance's defence and deterrence posture. As Minister of National Defence, I say this to you very clearly: I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the Romanian Armed Forces receive the equipment, technology and capabilities they need. Thank you for your professionalism, for your seriousness and dedication and for the way you represent Romania here, in Šiauliai ", the Minister of National Defence concluded.

As parts of the visit, the Minister of National Defence had a bilateral meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart, Robertas Kaunas, during which concrete topics regarding the security of NATO's eastern flank and the adaptation of defence capabilities to new types of threats were addressed.

The talks focused on the development and integration of anti-drone capabilities on the eastern flank, as well as on the importance of operational cooperation among the Allied states. The Lithuanian official appreciated the professionalism of the Romanian servicemen and the results achieved in the missions conducted in the Baltic airspace, including the recent success of the "Carpathian Vipers" Detachment in neutralizing a drone, and emphasized the value of shared experience and interoperability among allies.

The two ministers also highlighted the importance of maintaining the population's support for the defence effort and for strengthening societal resilience, in the context of the challenges posed by the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine. 

An important topic of discussion was the intensification of propaganda and disinformation campaigns, a phenomenon that Lithuania, similarly to other states on the eastern flank, is constantly facing. In this context, the Romanian Minister of Defence proposed introducing a consistent discussion on disinformation as major security risk on the Ankara Summit’s agenda, and advocated the need for a common approach of the eastern NATO member states and the Baltic countries, based on the experiences and concrete challenges they face daily. 

The two officials also stressed the importance of accelerating the development of the European and regional defence industry, so that it can rapidly meet the operational requirements and increased equipment needs generated by the current security context.

The Press Office