October 5, 2026 UPDATE 1
Romania’s President Nicușor Dan nominated Luca Niculescu as the new prime minister.
Newsroom, 05.10.2026, 21:28
Nomination – On Monday, Romania’s President Nicușor Dan nominated Luca Niculescu as the new prime minister following fresh consultations with all parliamentary political forces. Luca Niculescu (55) is a well-known figure in both diplomatic and media circles. A former journalist, editor-in-chief of RFI Romania, and host of foreign policy programs, Niculescu was appointed Romania’s ambassador to France in 2016, a post he held for six years. Since 2022, he has served as a State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as the national coordinator for Romania’s OECD accession process. Of all the parliamentary parties that attended the consultations, only the PSD put forward a nominee for prime minister, party leader Sorin Grindeanu. The third prime minister designate, the Liberal MEP Siegfried Mureșan, failed to secure the Parliament’s vote of confidence.
Nobel – The first Nobel Prize awarded this year, the one for Medicine, went to American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for “their discoveries regarding light-activated ion channels and optogenetics.” Nobel Prizes, which also recognize outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and economics, come with a prize sum recently raised to 12 million Swedish crowns (equivalent to approximately 1.21 million US dollars) and bring winners instant fame, the kind unimaginable to the vast majority of scientists, according to international news agencies. The Nobel Prize was established by the wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, best known as the inventor of dynamite. In his will, he directed that the bulk of his fortune be used to fund “prizes awarded to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
Incident – Two people lost their lives and 11 were urgently evacuated by Romanian authorities after a Turkish grain-laden ship was struck by a drone in the Black Sea on Monday. According to the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter from the General Inspectorate of Aviation took part in the rescue operations. The incident occurred 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast and 9 nautical miles from the Pescăruș oil platform, which is owned by a company in which the Romanian state, through the Energy Ministry, holds a minority stake. The ship, which sank, had departed from the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
Letter – The ‘Friends of Cohesion’ group, comprising 17 EU member states, has sent a joint letter to Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the Union, calling for agriculture and cohesion to remain central priorities in the next European budget cycle, announced the Romanian President Nicușor Dan. “First and foremost, we want an ambitious European Union budget; we want substantial funding for the cohesion and agriculture sectors, precisely to bridge the gaps between citizens of different European countries,” stated the Romanian head of state.
Priorities – The European Parliament’s priorities for the EU multiannual budget, the approval of the new EU defense innovation program, tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and protecting patients against the health risks posed by counterfeit medicines are the main topics on the agenda of the European Parliament plenary session starting Monday evening in Strasbourg. On Tuesday, the European Parliament will be debating the situation in Ukraine and condemn the elections in Russia in a separate round of talks. The MEPs will look ahead to EU summit on October the 15th and 16th during a debate with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Ahead of the meeting of heads of state or government, the MEPs will discuss measures to boost Europe’s economic competitiveness, continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression, expectations for the 2028–2034 EU budget, and the situation in the Middle East. MEPs will also discuss, among other things, ways to make housing affordable, and, on Wednesday, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Olympiad – Romanian students won three gold and two silver medals at the 19th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, held in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. According to the Romanian Education Ministry, the Romanian team, comprising five students, made to the podium in all categories. The competition brought together over 310 contestants from 64 countries.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT – Between October 5 and 9, Radio Romania’s technical team is migrating the broadcasts of the public radio service’s stations to a new technical system. Consequently, we will be airing a backup broadcast via shortwave, across all languages and frequencies used by Radio Romania International. In the meantime, you can find us online at www.rri.ro, including on-demand with updated programs and content, as well as on the RRI apps for Android and iOS and on our social media profiles. (LS)
