April 10, 2026
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 10.04.2026, 13:50
US-Romania. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Ţoiu on Thursday evening, praising Romania’s swift and decisive response and emphasising its role as a trusted partner of the United States, the State Department said in a statement. Romania has agreed to temporarily host U.S. defence equipment and troops on its territory in the context of the crisis in the Middle East. The two officials also reviewed opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence, energy, emerging technologies and critical mineral resources. “Our cooperation for deterrence and defence remains relevant in the current security context, anchored in a long-standing and trusted Strategic Partnership. We focused on security, economic developments and shared priorities shaping upcoming high-level and ministerial engagements this year,” Minister Oana Ţoiu posted on X. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Department recently finalised the formal partnership agreement for the MECEA program – Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act – and the first US Congress teams delegation as part of the program is to arrive in Romania by the end of the year, Oana Ţoiu also said on X.
EU funding. Romania will receive a response from the European Commission by the end of the month regarding its third and fourth payment requests under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, said the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru. Some technical clarifications are still needed, he explained after a government meeting assessing the stage of implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. So far, Romania has received only part of the funding under its third payment request because some of the goals undertaken by the Government in exchange for European funding were not met on time. This is also the case with the special pensions reform, which was adopted in February after being delayed repeatedly by the Constitutional Court of Romania, although the initial deadline was the end of November.
Cinema. Romanian film maker and 2007 Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu is again in competition for the big trophy in Cannes with his film Fjord. His latest work is a French-Romanian-Norwegian co-production starring Romanian-born actor Sebastian Stan in one of the main roles. It tells the story of a Romanian-Norwegian couple who settle in an isolated town in Norway. The Cannes Festival is to take place on the French Riviera in the second half of May. This year’s jury includes prestigious directors, such as Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar and Japan’s Hirokazu Koreeda.
Easter. It’s Holy Friday today for Orthodox Christians, who are the majority in Romania, as well as for Greek-Catholics, a day when they remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His burial in the tomb. Holy Friday is the day when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made man, went through the most tragic of human experiences, death. He was crucified between two thieves, and unjustly accused of blasphemy and resistance to Roman authority. The Holy Light will be brought to Romania on Holy Saturday, with a special air flight from Tel Aviv, after the Romanian and Israeli authorities granted the necessary approvals for the transport to take place under special conditions. The Romanian Patriarchate announced that the flight was made possible thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the Romanian Embassy in Israel, in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This year’s ceremony in Jerusalem will take place under special conditions, with restrictions imposed due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Tennis. Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea, seeded fifth, is today facing top seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Linz, Austria, worth over one million euros in prize money. Aged 36, Sorana is in her last competition season as a professional player. Another player from Romania, Gabriela Ruse, is also in the quarterfinals, today facing Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. (CM)
