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#frontieră

3 articles
A red crane lifting a girder segment next to a massive concrete abutment at the Prut road-bridge construction site; on the right, a group of people in reflective vests inspecting the works
BORDER & TRANSPORT

Prut bridge at Ungheni reaches 55%: deck installation has begun on the Moldovan bank

A year and four months after work began, the Ungheni–Zagarancea road bridge has half of its structure raised, and on the Moldovan bank installation of the first metal deck segment has started. Minister Vladimir Bolea inspected the site on 11 August. The Romanian bank is further along — 70% of the deck — while the original deadline, July 2026, has slipped towards autumn. Even once finished, the bridge cannot be crossed until the customs post is built, with a 2028 horizon.

Ion Calmis·11 August 2026· News
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Symbolic illustration: a SIM card and a generic identity card resting over a stylized map with a winding river-border, in cold light. No identifiable people.
NATIONAL

Prepaid SIM cards only with an ID pass first reading: at the Ungheni border, the stakes go beyond the pensioner scammed by phone

The measure that would allow prepaid SIM cards to be activated only on the basis of an identity document has moved a step further: on 26 June, Parliament voted it through in first reading. It is not yet law — a second reading and a one-year transition still lie ahead. Beyond the phone scams that hit the elderly, Parliament's statement invokes a second reason: anonymous cards used in cross-border smuggling. And Ungheni is the gateway district on the Prut, where real smuggling cases have already turned up seized phones and SIM cards.

Ion Calmis·28 June 2026· ExplainerWHAT'S AT STAKE
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Illustration: a judge's gavel and a heart-shaped piggy bank on a wooden desk beside a child's crayon drawing of a family; warm window light, no people in frame.
NATIONAL

From a 1,000-lei fine to 15 days in jail: what the new child-support law changes for parents in Ungheni

Parliament has adopted a law replacing the up-to-1,000-lei fine for parents who fail to pay child support with up to 15 days of arrest, unpaid community work and a ban on leaving the country — enforced right at the border. For a border district like Ungheni, with the Sculeni crossing and hundreds of divorces a year, the border provision is no abstraction. Nationwide, only 4.7% of parents pay support regularly.

Ion Calmis·21 June 2026· ExplainerWHAT'S AT STAKE