Ana Maria Pacuraru

Director of Research & Innovation & Foreign Affairs @RealitateaPlus 🇷🇴 | Covering wars, summits & power | G7 Évian '26 • NATO • White House | Congress | PhD

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

EXCLUSIVE 🚨 The European Commission confirms, in a statement obtained by us: the DSA investigation into TikTok over Romania’s elections remains ongoing.

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Officially credentialed by the Congressional Radio-Television Galleries Executive Committee 🇺🇸

This makes @RealitateaPlus the only official Romanian source of information from Washington, D.C. — a new milestone in bringing Romania closer to the center of global power. 🇷🇴

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

ROMANIA, IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF IRANIAN THREATS? Tehran targets US bases in Southeastern Europe

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

EXCLUSIVE: White House document flags Romania in global tariff-evasion network tied to China. 🚨

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

@RepTomSuozzi As Romania Caucus Co-Chair — following your Nov. 2025 letter to Sec. Hegseth on the Romania troop drawdown: any reaction to reports that Advisor Marius Lazurca was briefed at the Pentagon on July 29 on further posture changes? Ana Maria Păcuraru, Realitatea Plus (Romania, FPC credentialed). On-record comment welcome via email/DM

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

@USWPColby Thank you for confirming the July 29 meeting with Advisor Lazurca. Ana Maria Dobra, Realitatea Plus (Romania, FPC credentialed) — following up: does “burden-shifting” include any change to troop levels at MK Air Base, Deveselu, or Câmpia Turzii? On-record comment welcome via DM/email.

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

@USWPColby Ana Maria Păcuraru, Realitatea Plus (Romania, FPC credentialed). Reports say advisor Marius Lazurca & Gen. Vlad were briefed at the Pentagon last week on Romania’s posture. Can you confirm on record what’s being considered? Happy to take this to email/DM.

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

@USWPColby Mr. Colby — Ana Maria Dobra, Realitatea Plus (Romania, FPC credentialed). Reports say advisor Marius Lazurca & Gen. Vlad were briefed at the Pentagon last week on Romania’s posture. Can you confirm on record what’s being considered? Happy to take this to email/DM.

[Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby @USWPColby]

As the Department of War kicks off our Europe Posture Review, we are continuing regular, detailed consultations with our allies and partners. This Review will be strategic and rigorous, with the goal of accelerating NATO 3.0 and making the Alliance stronger, more equitable, and sustainable. And it will do so drawing not only on DoW’s unique expertise and insights but also on those of our allies and partners. 1/

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Honored to share that I’ve been accepted as a member of the White House Foreign Correspondents’ Association (WHFCA).

Grateful for this recognition as I continue covering foreign affairs and international politics for Realitatea Plus TV — from NATO summits to the G7 in Évian.

Onward. 🇷🇴🇺🇸

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Bankruptcy lawyer Gheorghe Piperea’s reaction: this treats Romania like a “banana republic” — as if a corporation could cut a deal with politicians instead of simply bidding at auction like everyone else. Rheinmetall also declined our interview request.

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Problem: Mangalia is in bankruptcy. Under Romanian law, the government has zero authority here — only creditors, the liquidator and the insolvency judge decide who buys it.

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

EXCLUSIVE: Rheinmetall has just responded officially to my enquiry on the Damen Mangalia Shipyard — on the very day of the second auction.

The company confirms, for the first time on record: together with partner MSC, Rheinmetall is “currently engaged in intensive discussions with the Romanian government on the acquisition of the Mangalia Shipyard.”

The contract covers 4 vessels for the Romanian Navy: 2× 96m Offshore Patrol Vessels (MMPV90) and 2× 43m Diver Support Vessels (PV43M).

Rheinmetall declined an interview request.

Full response below. 🧵

📧 Oliver Hoffmann, SVP Corporate Media Relations, Rheinmetall AG

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

EXCLUSIVE — Mangalia, Romania.

A €920M NATO-adjacent warship program sits dead behind me. Four vessels, zero progress. The shipyard went bankrupt in April. ~1,000 skilled workers gone. Contractor Rheinmetall skipped the first bankruptcy auction with zero bidders — and won’t say why. Romania’s own Economy Minister admits the real decision-making power isn’t with the state — it’s with Damen, the creditor controlling 97% of the claims.

Second auction: Wednesday, Bucharest. If it fails again, someone has to answer for a billion euros of public defense money — and a thousand people who’ve waited two years.

On the ground now for @realitateaplus. 🧵👇
#Romania #NATO #DefenseNews #Mangalia @Rheinmetall

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve obtained the first official NATO response on the drone shot down today over Romania. Allied Air Command confirms it was a coordinated NATO operation — and reveals Romania already has the MEROPS counter-drone system in place. More at @RealitateaPlus

https://t.co/dlcIO0Famp

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

🚨 Just published a new white paper at Europinion Institute for Research (EIR): “The Receptive Terrain: Conspiracy Belief and Romania’s Vulnerability to Foreign Information Manipulation” 🇷🇴

Co-authored with Prof. Dr. Cosima Rughiniș, Prof. Dr. Răzvan Rughiniș, and Dr. Dinu Țurcanu — examining why Romania remains fertile ground for foreign information manipulation, based on nationally representative survey data (INSOMAR, 2025).

Already being shared with GLOBSEC, CEPA, Atlantic Council, and NATO StratCom COE.

Romanian research, at the table on European information security. 🇪🇺

https://t.co/rzY48zUvja

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

I was set to travel once again with the American media delegation for this summit — but my child’s health came first, so I chose to cancel and cover it all from the Realitatea Plus studio instead. No regrets. Sometimes the most important decisions happen off camera. ❤️
I kept the analysis just as close to the source — every statement, every bilateral, every point of tension. 📺

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Tonight at the Embassy of India in Romania — sat down with H.E. Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Ambassador of India, for an in-depth conversation on geopolitics, multi-alignment, and the India-Romania relationship. Full interview coming soon on Realitatea Plus. 🇮🇳🇷🇴

[Ana Maria Pacuraru @PacuraruMaria]

Exclusive interview with H.E. Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Ambassador of India to Romania and the Republic of Moldova — discussing India’s strategic balancing act between the US, Russia, the EU and China, and Romania’s growing role in Black Sea security architecture. 🇮🇳🇷🇴

More to come.

Ana Maria Păcuraru, Realitatea Plus TV