NATO planes to be sent to Romania to eye Russian activity

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — NATO plans to deploy three surveillance planes to Romania next week to perform reconnaissance missions and to “monitor Russian military activity” within the military alliance’s territory. The Airborne Warning and Control System surveillance planes, or AWACS, belong to a fleet of 14 usually based in Germany. NATO said on Friday that three of the aircraft will be sent Tuesday to an airbase near Romania’s capital, Bucharest. The statement says AWACS have conducted “regular patrols over eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea region to track Russian warplanes” since Russia invaded Ukraine in Feburary. NATO also has bolstered its presence on Europe’s eastern flank, including by sending additional battlegroups to Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.