October 13, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 13.10.2025, 13:55
Finance. Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said that Romania has a duty to firmly support its interests with arguments and a realistic understanding of the European context, while at the same time fulfilling its commitments. He attended the ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers held in Luxembourg, where talks focused on the future budget of the European Union. The Romanian minister told his counterparts that the EU budget must be based on principles like fairness, efficiency, transparency and simplicity, taking into account the level of economic development in each EU member state. Minister Alexandru Nazare stressed that impact assessments must better reflect the specificities of member states with emerging economies and contain customised analyses to ensure evidence-based decisions and adapted to each country’s situation.
Survey. 55% of Romanians don’t want their country to send troops to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova in the event that Russia attacks this ex-Soviet, majority Romanian-speaking state, according to an opinion poll, conducted by Avangarde and quoted by the media. 28% of respondents are in favour of sending troops, and 17% don’t know or don’t wish to answer. The danger of Russia intentionally attacking Romania is perceived as unlikely/very unlikely/non-existent by 58% of respondents, 33% see it likely/very likely and 9% do not know or don’t wish to answer. 49% of respondents believe the Romanian Army doesn’t have the capacity to withstand an attack for 48 hours, as laid down in the NATO regulations, while 35% are optimistic, and 16 percent don’t know or don’t wish to answer. 58% agree with the increase in defence spending of all NATO member countries, including Romania, 30% disagree and 12% are undecided. 58% of respondents say the Romanian government is managing national defence badly, 22% say it does it well, 20% don’t know or don’t wish to answer. In the context of Romania’s current geo-military situation, 75% of respondents believe the Ministry of National Defence should be led by a retired senior officer with recognised professional qualities, 11% prefer a civilian and 14% don’t know or don’t wish to answer. The survey was conducted over the telephone, between October 6 and 10, on a sample of 920 persons from among the adult, non-institutionalised, population of Romania. The margin of error is +/- 3.4%.
Gaza. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas handed over all 20 remaining living hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Israeli media reported. The bodies of 28 hostages are also to be handed over, but it is not known whether Hamas will be able to immediately release all their remains, some of which have not been located. The hostages were kidnapped in southern Israel during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The operation to hand over all hostages, alive or dead, is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, hours before a peace summit in Egypt, attended by US President Donald Trump.
Rating. Fitch Ratings expects Romania’s budget deficit to fall to 8.5% of GDP this year, from a record 9.3% last year. In an analysis published on Friday, the agency noted that due to the high starting point, the budget deficit is expected to fall only to 7% in 2026 and 6.5% in 2027. The agency has revised its deficit forecast upwards as the additional fiscal measures envisaged by the government may face difficulties in terms of implementation, amid low economic growth and persistent political uncertainty.
Pilgrimage. Over 100,000 thousand pilgrims paid tribute to the relics of Saint Paraskeva, on display at the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and Bukovina in Iași (eastern Romania). Other tens of thousands of people from all over the country and abroad formed a line of several kilometres on the streets near the church. Around October 14, when the feast day of Saint Paraskeva is celebrated, the city of Iași becomes the largest pilgrimage centre in Romania and one of the largest in Europe. Saint Paraskea, also known in the folk tradition as Saint Friday, is considered the patron saint of Moldavia (the eastern region of Romania), as well as of the poor.
Football. The Romanian national football side dramatically defeated Austria 1-nil on Sunday evening, in Bucharest, in Group H of the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches. Romania scored in the last minute of the match, when defender Virgil Ghiţă sent a header into the goal after a cross by Ianis Hagi. In the same group, Cyprus defeated San Marino, away 4-nil. Romania will next play Bosnia-Herzegovina away, on November 15, before facing San Marino at home on November 18, in their final group match. Austria currently top the group with 15 points, followed by Bosnia- Herzegovina, with 13, and Romania, with 10. The winners of the 12 qualifying groups from Europe will go straight to the World Cup, while the second-placed teams, together with the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League will play two play-offs to establish the final four teams that will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, to be hosted jointly by the USA, Mexico and Canada. Romania last qualified for a World Cup final world tournament in 1998, when France hosted it. (CM)
