January 8, 2026 UPDATE

The latest news from RRI

Newsroom, 08.01.2026, 20:00

Weather – Bad weather continues to cause problems in Romania. There are localities without electricity, blocked roads, and schools have been closed in 15 counties, with classes either suspended or held online, due to heavy snowfalls and blizzards. In the mountains, the risk of avalanches is high, in the Southern Carpathians, at altitudes of over 1,800 m, this being 4 on a scale from 1 to 5. In Alba County (center), the most affected by the weather in recent days, a meeting of the Emergency Situations Committee was convened. Due to the weather conditions, there, the number of households left without electricity has increased again. After thousands of interventions already carried out across the country, teams continue to work to remedy the faults in order to resume electricity supply to over 11,000 homes in five counties. In Bucharest, after the National Energy Command held on Thursday, Minister Bogdan Ivan assured that there would be no problems with natural gas due to low temperatures, because the storage facilities are filled to approximately 70% of their capacity.

Security Center – A European Black Sea Security Center could be established in Constanta, in southeastern Romania, a project that has already received the official support of the European Commission. Its initiator, Romanian social-democrat MEP Victor Negrescu, explained on Radio Romania that this center represents not only a strategic opportunity for Romania, but would also ensure better coordination between the European Union, NATO and the states in the area in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In the long term, Victor Negrescu pointed out, the European Black Sea Security Center would contribute to the development of the Port of Constanta, of the connections between Romania, Bulgaria or Greece, as well as of larger projects linking Europe to Turkey or the Caucasus area.

Mercosur – The European Commission announces measures in favor of farmers, to convince member states to sign the Mercosur trade agreement with Latin America. After a meeting on Wednesday evening of the community executive with the European Agriculture ministers, it was announced, among other things, that there would be more money for farmers in the Union budget, that fertilizers would become cheaper and that there would be very strict rules for any agri-food import. These are in addition to other measures to protect European production. Mercosur is due to be signed on January 12. The French farmers blocked several areas of Paris on Thursday, in protest against the agreement that the EU is about to sign with the South American bloc. In turn, farmers and livestock breeders from the Flemish Boerenbond union protested in front of the European Parliament in Brussels. The Greek farmers announced a 48-hour blockade of the country’s main roads and border crossings. And a German Farmers’ Alliance called on Thursday for the rejection of the free trade agreement between the Union and Mercosur.

Finances – One of the priorities of the Finance Ministry is to enter 2026 with respect for the honest business environment and with the state’s obligations honored to date, the finance minister Alexandru Nazare wrote on Thursday in a post on a social network. ‘Romania’s economy has demonstrated a high level of resilience in the context of the fiscal-budgetary measures adopted last year and, even if it registered modest growth, it has not been destabilized,’ the minister said. According to him, this is ‘the merit of the real economy, of Romanians and honest entrepreneurs, who managed to perform even in conditions of fiscal stress and who supported the functioning of the state and the record level of budget revenues, by paying taxes on time.’ In his opinion, the state must be a fair and predictable partner for the business environment. ‘This is the basis for a healthy economic climate and the direction in which we must build the relationship between the state and the real economy in 2026 and in the years to come,’ Alexandru Nazare also wrote.

Defense – The Romanian Naval Forces handed over the command of the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group (MCM BS TG) to the Turkish Naval Forces on Thursday, during a military ceremony organized in the port of Umuryeri, Istanbul, the Romanian Defense Ministry announced. Thus, the command of the Group will be ensured for the next six months by Turkey, and in the second half of the year by the Bulgarian Naval Forces, with Romania taking over the command again in the first half of the next year. According to the statement, the main purpose of the Group is to maintain the safety of maritime traffic in the Black Sea, by carrying out sea mines surveillance, reconnaissance and neutralization activities, as well as performing related search and rescue operations at sea. (LS)