August 16, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 16.08.2026, 20:01
DRONE A drone, which illegally breached Romania’s national airspace, on Saturday night was intercepted and shot down by a Spanish F-18 jet fighter, which was carrying out NATO air-policing missions in the county of Galati, eastern Romania. According to NATO Military Headquarters, the drone appears to be Russian, but the incident is still under investigation, Reuters reports. The Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, says he talked with his Romanian counterpart, Oana Toiu, who thanked the pilots. This has been the fourth unmanned aircraft shot down over the country this year and the AFP says Romania started shooting down these drones last month, after it had become one of the NATO members most exposed to the conflict’s consequences. Its Black Sea coastline is very close to areas repeatedly targeted by Russian attacks. Starting the year 2023, the Romanian authorities have repeatedly announced incidents when drone debris was found on its territory after Russian attacks against Ukrainian targets on the Danube. Other countries, on NATO’s eastern flank, like Poland and the Baltic states have repeatedly reported breaches of their airspaces.
FILM Romanian director Florin Serban’s film ‘You Don’t Belong Here’ won the top prize—the Golden Leopard—on Saturday at the 79th edition of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. The film also received a special mention for acting, awarded to young actor Teodor Butănescu, who was making his debut. The jury praised “the strength of its writing, the singularity of its vision, and the exceptional mastery of its cinematic language.” France Presse describes the director as a key figure of the Romanian New Wave and notes that the film portrays the relationship between a father and his teenage son in somber tones. The film tells the story of a doctor devastated to learn that the police suspect his teenage son—whom he raised alone—of killing an elderly Roma man. The doctor discovers that his son leads a double life at night, roaming the city on a bicycle and vandalizing cars alongside a gang of masked vigilantes. ‘You Don’t Belong Here is set to premiere in Romania this November. After studying philosophy and journalism, Florin Şerban studied film directing at Columbia University. His debut feature, If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, reaped several awards, including the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2010.
AMENDMENTS This weekend, the Labour Ministry submitted to the Presidential Administration a series of fresh amendments to the Public Sector Wage Law. President Nicusor Dan has asked for these amendments ahead of a new meeting with the political leaders with a view to reaching an agreement on endorsing and promulgating the law by August 31, the deadline assumed through the PNRR. According to the acting Labour Minister, Dragos Pislaru, the present version has been significantly improved in two areas, healthcare and education. The Minister also says the amendments are targeting the salary scale for high-ranking officials. He says he has received the salary scale by e-mail from the Chamber of Deputies, and that it was agreed upon by the leaders of the political Parliamentary groups. According to him, the interim government cannot amend this proposal. 770 million Euros worth of European funds are hinging on the endorsement of the aforementioned law.
PNRR Romania has officially submitted payment request No. 5 under the NRRP, totaling 2.84 billion Euros, the interim Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru has announced. This request covers 75 targets and milestones (21 reforms and 54 investments), comprising a net value of 1.65 billion Euros in non-repayable European funds (grants) and 433 million Euros in loans. This is the penultimate payment request under the NRRP. With this submission, Romania reaches a 78% absorption rate for the grant component. Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan is funded with 21.41 billion Euros, consisting of 13.57 billion Euros in grants and 7.84 billion in loans.
TENNIS Romania’s tennis player, Sorana Cirstea, has qualified for the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, a competition with more than 7.4 million dolars in prize money, after a two-set win 7-6, 6-3 against Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia. Cirstea, 36, managed to win the match against Bartunkova, in two hours, and will next be up against Ana Kalinskaya of Russia, who outperformed the US challenger, Caty McNally. Cirstea leads two-one in head-to-head matches against the Russian.
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