January 4, 2026 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 04.01.2026, 20:00

VENEZUELA – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) in Bucharest has announced it is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela, with Romania’s partners in the European Union. A community with Romanian roots lives there, and the safety of citizens is a priority, which is why Romania’s diplomatic and consular missions in Latin America and the Ministry’s Consular Department are ready to provide assistance if necessary, with the support of the permanent delegation of the European Union. The MAE recalls that the Union has also established, with Romania’s agreement, successive series of sanctions against the undemocratic regime in Caracas, including after the rigged presidential elections in July last year. The European Union and Romania have not recognized Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela, and the decision to bring him to justice can stop drug trafficking and give Venezuelans a chance for a good future in prosperity, said the head of diplomacy in Bucharest, Oana Ţoiu. The statements come after, on Saturday, the United States successfully carried out large-scale attacks on Venezuela, and the authoritarian leftist leader of this country, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, accused of involvement in drug trafficking, were captured and taken out of the country by air, to appear before American justice.

OPERATION – The details of the movie-like operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro are generating interest all over the world. The Romanian public radio reporters spoke with a former member of one of the three American elite units, retired from activity and settled in Romania. Under the protection of anonymity, he said that an operation like the one in Venezuela is very complicated, involving numerous people and many American security agencies. The American explained that the priority is to accomplish the mission and not leave any member of the team behind. The former fighter said that in such operations, although the American president has the last word, the team on the ground has a dose of freedom. The information, the training and the man next to you, who you know is the best-prepared soldier in the world, give you security, and the level of trust in the team is very high, the former member of an American elite unit also said.

SMUGGLING – Around 28,000 cigarettes with Bulgarian tax stamps were discovered by the Romanian border police in Giurgiu (south, on the border with Bulgaria), following random checks. The cigarettes, worth almost 42,000 lei (the equivalent of approximately 8,400 euros), were hidden in a car registered in Germany and driven by a 31-year-old Bulgarian citizen. The entire quantity of cigarettes was confiscated and a criminal case was opened.

SURVEY – About 4 out of 10 Romanians say that 2026 will be better for them personally, but, collectively, almost half think that the new year will be worse for Romania than 2025. Inflation, the political situation and health are the main concerns, according to the results of an IRES survey, conducted in December 2025. At the same time, respondents say, the main issues that the authorities should address are reducing prices, increasing salaries and fighting corruption. Confidence in the government’s ability to manage major economic imbalances remains very low, with three-quarters of Romanians saying that they have little or no confidence that the budget deficit will be reduced in the next two years. Geopolitically, the war in Ukraine is perceived more as a long-term risk than as a crisis close to resolution. Most Romanians believe this conflict will continue in 2026, and one in five fears it will expand into Europe.

PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Nicuşor Dan will participate, on Tuesday, in Paris, in the meeting of heads of state and government of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, dedicated to the situation in neighboring Ukraine, invaded by Russian troops – the Presidential Administration in Bucharest has announced. Ukraine’s European allies also met on Saturday, in Kyiv, to analyze the details of the latest version of the plan to end the conflict with Russia. Security advisors from 15 countries, including France, Germany and Canada, as well as representatives of the European Union and NATO, gathered in the Ukrainian capital for this first meeting of the year. Diplomatic efforts have intensified since November, with a view to ending the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, under the coordination of US President Donald Trump, whose administration has held separate negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. In his New Year’s speech for 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky said that an agreement was “90% ready”, but warned that the remaining 10% would determine the “fate of peace”, as the future of the territories occupied by Russia remains a key issue.

VICTIM – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has announced, regarding the fire that broke out in Switzerland, in the Crans-Montana resort, on New Year’s Eve, that, according to the information received from the Swiss authorities, the Romanian citizen initially presumed missing is dead. The Romanian Embassy in Bern is in contact with his family, and representatives of the diplomatic mission are providing them consular assistance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends its condolences to the grieving family. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds Romanian citizens that they can request consular assistance at the phone numbers of the Romanian Embassy in Bern: call-center phone: +41 31 351 05 46 and +41 31 351 05 47, calls being redirected to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken over by the Call Center operators on a 24-hour basis. Also, Romanian citizens who are faced with a difficult, special, emergency situation have the diplomatic mission’s emergency phone number at their disposal: +41 76 387 50 05.

POLO – The Romanian national team has established its squad for the European Men’s Water Polo Championship, to be held this month in Belgrade, in neighboring Serbia. According to the Facebook page of the polo federation in Bucharest, the Romanians, led by coach Bogdan Rath, will leave for Serbia on January 8 and will compete in Group D, alongside Slovakia, Turkey and Italy. The first match will be played on January 11, against Slovakia, then on January 13, the match against Turkey will take place, with the last match in the group being scheduled for January 15, against Italy.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea defeated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, on Sunday in a first-round match at the WTA 500 tournament in Brisbane, Australia. In the next match, Cîrstea (35 years old, WTA 43rd) will meet Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, number 14 on the list of seeded players, who qualified directly for the second round. Also in Brisbane and also on Sunday, Romanians Jacqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse were eliminated in the first round. (EE)