Romania briefly launched military jets and neighboring Moldova temporarily closed its airspace on Tuesday after authorities in both countries reported mysterious weather balloon-like objects crossing their skies.
The incidents occurred around noon local time and briefly raised concern in the two Eastern European countries, both bordering Ukraine and affected by Russia’s war.
Romania’s defense ministry said it had deployed two jets under NATO command in its southeastern skies to search for an aerial object described as small with “weather balloon-like characteristics”. It was initially detected by radar systems in Romanian airspace at an altitude of approximately 36,000 feet.
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“The crews of the two aircraft have not confirmed the presence of the aerial target, either visually or on onboard radars”, reads a statement from the ministry, adding that the two MiG-21 LanceRs remained in the vicinity for about 30 minutes before indent base.
It was unclear whether the two incidents were connected, and neither country has said where they believe the objects came from.
The Romanian and Moldovan authorities have reported an unidentified flying object in their airspace.
The events follow a series of similar incidents this month in the United States, in which objects detected and shot down by warplanes included a high-flying Chinese balloon that crossed American airspace. China claimed it was a weather balloon that had accidentally drifted off course.
The incident in Moldova triggered widespread travel disruptions and a brief panic as authorities temporarily closed the country’s airspace over what they later described as a “weather balloon-like” object spotted near the northern border with the country. ‘Ukraine.
Dozens of flights to the country of about 2.6 million people, one of the poorest in Europe, have been canceled or rescheduled. Some have been diverted to Romania.
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“Given the weather conditions and the inability to track and identify the object, as well as its flight path… the decision has been made to temporarily close the airspace,” Moldova’s aviation authority said in a statement. .
Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004 and a member of the European Union since 2007. Moldova is militarily neutral and therefore not a potential NATO member. It is trying to forge closer ties with the West and was granted EU candidate status last June, the same day as Ukraine.
On Monday, Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Russia of plotting to overthrow her country’s government and derail it from its EU membership path.
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday dismissed Sandu’s claims as “absolutely baseless and baseless”.
