On Thursday evening, 22 October 2026, the Supreme Council of National Defence met at Cotroceni Palace for its first sitting after the new government took office. The Presidential Administration said the talks put first the escalation of maritime incidents in Romania’s territorial waters and just beyond them: breaches of national airspace and drone strikes on commercial ships. The council calls these direct consequences of the Russian Federation’s aggression beyond Ukraine’s borders. The communique is not a new law, and it does not announce a budget with figures.

The text carried by HotNews says threats to freedom of navigation and to critical infrastructure have grown sharply, and that for Romania this security crisis has immediate implications. The aims it names are protecting lives, keeping national ports open and securing energy sites in the exclusive economic zone. Radio Romania reports the same list. These are stated priorities. They do not mean the defence is already stronger, and they do not describe a capability already in place.

To strengthen the capacity to react, the communique speaks of speeding up maritime surveillance, of countering sea mines and of intervening against drones that enter national airspace and maritime space without permission. The operational response is to be backed by regular exercises across institutions and by keeping intervention plans up to date. That is a line of work, not a system already deployed and not a sum voted through.

The same statement speaks of coordination inside NATO, including the deterrence and defence posture on the eastern flank, and of new measures in the Black Sea, based on the conclusions of the North Atlantic Council on 20 October 2026, a meeting called at Romania’s initiative. It also names the operationalising of the Black Sea security hub under the European Union’s strategic approach, and the use of the MCM Black Sea mine-countermeasures group, whose role was extended in 2026 to critical infrastructure. None of these sentences stands in for a statute.

At the end, President Nicușor Dan said he was concerned about two serious incidents of violence in schools during the same week and spoke of early intervention. That was not the subject of the sitting.

Source consulted: Cum își va întări România apărarea la Marea Neagră. CSAT a identificat consecințe directe ale agresiunii Federației Ruse, HotNews. Second source: CSAT: După atacurile cu drone asupra navelor comerciale, România își va consolida apărarea în Marea Neagră, Radio România.