Boss, hold on tight to your seat because I'm about to knock you down! Romania is like a pressure cooker: heatwave, storms, drones, bickering politicians and Dacia giving us the sign that it's leaving. Let me tell you what's really going on, no joke.
The National Meteorological Administration issued yellow and orange codes for July 3. Yellow code between 10:00 and 17:00 in Transylvania, Oltenia, Maramureș, western and central Muntenia, and the mountains: squalls, hail, 70-90 km/h wind, 15-25 l/m2 of water, isolated 30-40. Orange code between 12:00 and 17:00 in southern and eastern Transylvania and the Eastern and Southern Carpathians: hail, squalls, 25-40 l/m2, isolated 50-60. In Bucharest it rains all day on July 3 and 4, 27 degrees. Lucky that crazy heatwave is gone, because Mioara was killing me with the electricity bill from the AC.
The heatwave of the past few days was downright Caragiale-esque. At the "Nicolae Bălăcescu" pool, dozens of people jumped the fence and threw themselves into the pool, packed like sardines, broke something and ended up in the hospital. There, a patient wanted to open the window at 39 degrees - the other inmates hit him with crutches so he wouldn't create a draft. And in the villages, people enjoyed the sun: they heat the plum brandy cauldrons for free. One guy said: "It comes out strong and doesn't pollute, because it's with renewable energy!" - and he drank a glass for each degree. That's the way, bro, circular economy!
On top of the weather, we also have political instability. Katrin Adt, CEO of Dacia, said clearly: "The political and economic situation is not as stable as we would like to make future decisions." That is, the most expensive energy in Europe, inflation, scandals - Dacia says it's not investing anymore. And Erwin Didelez, the financial chief of Philip Morris Romania, warns: "Fiscal predictability is essential. We invested $1.1 billion in 30 years, the Otopeni factory exports 90% to 54 markets. If a stable framework is not put in place, we're leaving." And me, with my 2008 BMW, I wonder: if Dacia and Philip Morris leave, what's left? State salaries?
And, to make everything perfect, a Ukrainian naval drone exploded in the Port of Constanța on June 5, 2026. The Ministry of Defense says that Ukraine lost control on the evening of June 4 in Sevastopol, 250 km from our shore, of four Sargan-3000 drones. They went into self-detonation, they notified us at 09:54, the first one went off at 10:27 at Berth 78 - no casualties, thank God. Then three more offshore. The MoD asked Ukraine to open a permanent technical channel and program the drones to self-detonate in safe zones. It seems the Russians jammed the signal - electronic warfare, bro, no joke. I was thinking about the guys at Fane's terrace: if one landed in front, we'd wake up with the news on Digi24.
This is what Romania looks like on July 3, 2026: scorching heat, storms, drones, threatening corporatists and quarreling politicians. Until then, I'm going to fill up water bottles and chill a beer, because the storm is coming. Who pays for all this? Us, the ordinary Romanians.
