August 17, 2026

A roundup of national and international news.

Radio România Internațional, 17.08.2026, 13:55

DRONES – Several drone fragments were found on Sunday along the entire Romanian Black Sea coastline, carried ashore by the waves and strong currents of the rough sea. Meanwhile, a drone that illegally entered Romanian airspace from neighbouring Moldova was shot down by a Spanish fighter jet in Galaţi County, in eastern Romania, between Saturday and Sunday. The Ministry of National Defence said that, following searches, fragments of the interceptor missile were found and safely destroyed, along with fragments of the downed drone. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Russian aircraft have entered Romanian airspace on dozens of occasions, and fighter jets have been scrambled each time. Apart from the drone shot down in Galaţi at the weekend, three other drones were destroyed at the end of July.

SALARIES – President Nicuşor Dan is expected to mediate a new meeting between the leaders of the pro-European parties in Parliament this week, focusing on the new law governing public-sector pay. Interim Labour Minister Dragoş Pîslaru stressed that the president will have a new version of the draft law at his disposal for the talks. Trade unions also oppose this version, saying it would lead to pay cuts. If Parliament fails to adopt the new law by 31 August, Romania risks losing around 770 million euros in funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Meanwhile, a new extraordinary parliamentary session could be convened this week. The agenda is expected to include, first and foremost, President Nicuşor Dan’s request for the reconsideration of the law on completing hydropower plants stalled in protected areas. Senators are also expected to revisit bills related to the National Rural Development Programme and the State Domains Agency.

RULING – Romania’s Constitutional Court judges are due to rule today on challenges to the new integrity law, a milestone under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, filed by President Nicuşor Dan, as well as by the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Save Romania Union (USR). The challenges concern provisions introduced by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), relating to the retroactive sanctioning of local elected officials found to be in a state of incompatibility, as well as the extension of asset and interests declaration requirements to life partners. The Constitutional Court’s meeting comes amid public controversy sparked by a recent unannounced meeting at the Senate between Constitutional Court President Simina Tănăsescu and interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. The Superior Council of Magistracy, court leaderships and magistrates’ associations have called for urgent public clarification, arguing that such an informal meeting raises legitimate questions and undermines confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary. In response, Constitutional Court President Simina Tănăsescu has firmly rejected any speculation, saying the discussions dealt exclusively with administrative and institutional matters and had no connection with cases before the court.

ENERGY – Romania’s Environment Ministry will draw up this week a legislative measure providing for an 80-million-euro funding scheme aimed at increasing electricity storage capacity. Interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan warned that the current energy crisis has shown that Romania lacks sufficient storage capacity. He said the Environment Ministry, through the Environment Fund, the Energy Ministry, through the Modernisation Fund, and the Finance Ministry had supported photovoltaic and wind power generation but had failed to place sufficient emphasis on storage. The scheme will be implemented through the Modernisation Fund and will make available twice the amount provided by the Environment Ministry.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea faces Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya today in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, which offers total prize money of around 7.4 million dollars. Cîrstea leads Kalinskaya 2-1 in their head-to-head record, with all three previous matches having taken place in the United States. The Romanian reached the third round after beating Czech player Nikola Bartunkova in straight sets. (EE)