AUGUST 15, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 15.08.2026, 19:36
HOLIDAY Christians on Saturday celebrated the Assumption of Mary or St. Mary, considered the patron saint of sailors, a holiday, which reminds us how the Virgin Mary left this world. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is the patron saint of most monasteries in Romania and because of that the aforementioned holiday is reason for the biggest pilgrimages in this country. Structures with the Romanian Interior Ministry have deployed additional personnel to contribute to public safety in the Romanian Black Sea resorts presently in full holiday season. Their mission is to ensure the public order at the events occasioned by the Navy Day but also to ease road traffic and for rapid intervention in emergency situations. Policemen are present around the worship places as well.
DAY Navy Day was celebrated in Romania on Saturday, August 15. The centre of the celebration events was the city of Constanta, on the Black Sea coast, where over 35 hundred Romanian and foreign servicemen participated in the military ceremony and the joint naval drill led by Romania’s Naval Forces. The events were attended by more than 50 ships and vessels, armored amphibious transporters and artillery pieces, belonging to the Navy Forces, Coast Guards, the Romanian Agency of Saving Human Lives at Sea, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and Romania’s Air Club. From the allies, two Spanish F-18 fighter jets, which are carrying out NATO’s strengthened air policing missions, and a maritime surveillance plane, Atlantique 2, of the French Navy, also attended the events. A brass-band concert and torchlight procession by the sailors as well as a light and laser show were the final points of the ceremonies on this day.
MESSAGES ‘In the past years, the Black Sea has become a crucial area for Europe’s security’ Romanian President, Nicusor Dan, says in his Navy Day address. “The Black Sea is an area where Romania is affirming its strategic interests and projecting its future”, the Head of the Romanian state went on to say. “The Black Sea means trade, energy and connectivity.” “The war in Ukraine proved that Romania is not at the edge of the European Union, Romania is the Union’s first defence line; we are in the Eastern Flank, at the EU’s most important border, the border between a free Europe and a country where citizens are defending their freedom with the price of their lives, and that obliges us,” Romania’s acting Defence Minister says during the ceremonies in Constanta. “It obliges us, Radu Miruta says, because peace is not kept by hoping that others do not attack us, peace is kept by equipping ourselves and making others realize that if they attack us, there will be a heavy price to pay.” “I am here to thank all those who are vigilant on the sea so that we can sleep safe and sound on the ground, to thank all those who support these people, their families, ship builders, port workers, all our partners with whom we cooperate for the security of our eastern border and in the Black Sea”, the acting Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan says.
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.
DRONE A drone, which was discovered close to the town of Plauru, Tulcea county, eastern Romania, was neutralized on Saturday by a specialized team from the country’s Defence Ministry. That has been the second drone discovered in Tulcea, after the one in the Macin Mountains. Another drone was discovered close to the stabilopodes in the resort of Costinesti, on the Romanian Black Sea coast, on Thursday. An unprecedented intensity has been reported in the drone attacks on the Ukrainian front, and the Romanian army radars have discovered over 100 drones close to Romania’s airspace in the past 96 hours. Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, drones or parts of drones have been discovered on the Romanian territory in fifty occasions. Scores of airspace violation have been reported in Romania since the beginning of the war. The most severe incident was reported in late May, when a Russian drone crashed into a block of flats in Galati, eastern Romania, wounding two. Romania’s Air forces shot down three drones in July.
(bill)
