EU condemns the sabotage in Brașov and expresses solidarity with Romania at the OSCE

The European statement adopts the attribution of the operation to a Russia-coordinated network, as communicated by the Romanian authorities. The text refers to EU instruments against hybrid threats, without announcing their activation in this case. The criminal investigation continues, while Russia rejects the accusations.

The European Union condemned at the OSCE the act of sabotage that took place in Brașov on 14 September and expressed its solidarity with Romania, after Romanian authorities attributed the fire to a network coordinated from the Russian Federation. The statement presented in Vienna on 29 October and published the following day refers to an industrial site near the CARFIL arms manufacturer, without claiming that the factory itself was destroyed.

In brief

1.The EU condemned the sabotage in Brașov at the OSCE and supported Romania, citing the attribution communicated by the Romanian authorities.

2.The fire took place at an industrial site near CARFIL; the destruction of the arms factory is not documented.

3.DIICOT announced three defendants and judicial proceedings in Germany and Poland; the investigation does not amount to a conviction.

4.The MFA says that more than 40 states expressed solidarity; 13 non-EU countries separately aligned themselves with the European statement.

5.The EU refers to instruments against hybrid attacks, without announcing their activation or new sanctions for this case. Russia rejects the accusations.

The EU places the incident within a broader campaign of hybrid activities which, in its assessment, seek to weaken the security of European states and support for Ukraine. The document lists sabotage, disruption of critical infrastructure, and information manipulation. This framing expresses the European diplomatic position; the attribution of the Brașov operation is based on the assessment communicated by the Romanian authorities.

The Romanian Intelligence Service announced on 26 October that it had identified the network, in cooperation with domestic and foreign partners. According to the SRI, the fire was started inside the Carfil industrial site, in the immediate vicinity of CARFIL SA, a ROMARM subsidiary. The service states that the network also had other military and industrial targets of interest in Romania and other European states.

The criminal case follows a path distinct from this security assessment. In the DIICOT statement of 26 October, reproduced by EPEN, prosecutors describe three defendants, two Belarusian citizens and one Ukrainian citizen, residing in EU states. Two had been placed in pretrial detention in Germany, while a European arrest warrant had been issued for the third, located in Poland. The investigation concerns attempted acts of sabotage. The accusations do not constitute convictions, and the persons under investigation benefit from the presumption of innocence.

Russia denied involvement in the incident. Radio România Actualități reported on 27 October the position of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bucharest, which disputed the accusations after the ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Romania presented the case both at the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation on 28 October and at the Permanent Council on 29 October. According to the MFA statement published by AGERPRES, more than 40 participating states expressed solidarity. Separately, the EU statement lists 13 non-EU states that aligned themselves with the text; the two counts do not describe exactly the same category of reactions.

In the statement, the EU and its member states say they will use the available instruments, including the European framework for responding to hybrid threats, at the request of the affected member state. The text does not announce the formal activation of a mechanism for the Brașov case and does not impose new sanctions on any persons or entities.

The statement also condemns attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea, as well as violations of the airspace of Romania and the Republic of Moldova in the context of Russian attacks on Ukraine. For the Brașov case, the confirmed outcome is the diplomatic solidarity expressed at the OSCE and the availability of a European response, while the criminal proceedings and any subsequent measures are following their own stages.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/ue-condamna-sabotajul-de-la-brasov-si-isi-exprima-solidaritatea-cu-romania-la-osce