According to Romanian reports, a Russian warplane intercepted a Polish plane during a patrol flight for the EU border protection agency Frontex. The Romanian Defense Ministry said today that the Polish border guard plane was on a routine Frontex flight on Friday when it was intercepted by a Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet through repeated “aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres”.
The incident happened “in international airspace over the Black Sea”, about 60 kilometers east of Romanian airspace. Romanian and Spanish aircraft were then put on “pre-alert” by NATO.
However, the Polish crew managed to land safely after the machine “initially lost altitude” and had “serious control problems,” the Defense Ministry said in Bucharest.
Bucharest: “Proof of provocation by Russia”
“This incident is further evidence of the Russian Federation’s provocative actions in the Black Sea,” Bucharest said. The European border protection agency Frontex initially did not respond to a request from the AFP news agency. Polish border guards declined to comment and announced a statement for today.
The Polish aircraft has been stationed in Romania since April 19 and is scheduled to remain there until May 17. It is part of a Frontex operation organized by Romania, in which Spain and Sweden are also involved.
