NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Romania's airspace without authorization, the Romanian defense minister said Sunday.

A Spanish F-18 jet flies over the military base of Torrejon de Ardoz in Madrid, Spain, on August 24, 2021. On Sunday, two Spanish jets as part of NATO shot down a drone that entered Romanian airspace without authorization. File Photo by Mariscal/EPA UPI

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Romania's airspace without authorization, the Romanian defense minister said Sunday.

Radu Miruța said two Spanish F-18 jets were scrambled in response to the drone entering Romanian airspace at 4:44 a.m. Sunday near the border with Moldova.

"At 5:01 [a.m.], the drone was intercepted and destroyed between the localities of Bǎleni and Cudalbi, in Galați County, in an unpopulated area," the defense minister said in a post on X.

"Romania is defending its airspace, and our allies are standing with us. Vigilance, rapid response, and allied solidarity - these are the concrete guarantees of our security."

Romanian officials did not confirm the country of origin of the drone, but it was one of multiple incursions into the country's airspace in recent weeks, Euronews reported.

On July 26, Miruța said a Romanian F-16 shot down a Russian drone that entered Romanian airspace near the delta of the Danube River in the Black Sea. Two days before, Romania shot down another drone that was found to be the type Russia has used in its invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, Spanish F-18s were also scrambled after an object was spotted in Romanian airspace near the Ukrainian border. It spent 12 minutes in Romanian airspace before moving into Ukraine.