April 25, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 25.04.2026, 20:00
GOVERNMENT Romania’s president Nicuşor Dan has signed the orders dismissing the Social Democratic Party ministers and appointing interim ones. In a social media post, he announced he will continue to act as a mediator and said he invited the leaders of the four pro-European political parties and the leader of the national minorities group in Parliament to technical talks on Monday regarding major programmes for Romania, such as SAFE and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Dan also said that if, during the consultations, the Liberals or the Social Democrats suggest a minority government backed by the nationalist party Alliance for the Union of Romanians, he will not accept it. On Thursday, the Liberal PM Ilie Bolojan received the resignations of the 7 Social Democratic ministers and submitted replacement proposals to the presidency. The 7 PSD ministers stepped down after the party decided to withdraw its political support for the prime minister.
DRONE The Romanian foreign minister Oana Ţoiu summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest after drone fragments fell on Friday night in the city of Galaţi, on the Romanian border with Ukraine, following a new raid by Russian forces. The Romanian foreign ministry describes the action as irresponsible and provocative, violating the sovereignty of Romania’s airspace and possibly endangering the safety of the public. Intervention teams picked up the fragments with explosive charges and removed them from the area. There were no casualties, only minor damage, but over 200 people were evacuated as a precaution and dozens of homes are being monitored by law enforcement following the incident, regarded by authorities as the most serious of this kind to occur in our country since the start of the war in Ukraine.
RUSSIA The president of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, firmly condemns Russia’s irresponsible behaviour, which causes incidents such as the drone that fell last night in Galaţi, which, he says, shows lack of respect for international law and endangers the safety of the citizens of Romania, a NATO member state. The president adds that this is the first incident in which Romanian assets have been damaged, a threshold that Bucharest treats with all seriousness. Nicuşor Dan mentions that the relevant institutions acted properly and in a coordinated manner, and managed to minimize the risks by the controlled detonation of the fragments of the Russian drone that entered Romania from Ukraine. Romania is not a party to the conflict, and still its consequences are felt, generating challenges and vulnerabilities that must be treated with the utmost seriousness, the Romanian president also said. In a press release, Dan emphasised that the support given to Ukraine since the first day of the war started by Russia has been a correct decision, in line with Romania’s values and interests. As a NATO and EU member state, Romania takes active part in the efforts to strengthen common security, and the Galati incident reveals the need to accelerate army equipment and upgrade programmes, he added.
SAFE Romania has received from the European Commission the framework agreement for financing under the SAFE programme for army equipment and the development of the national defence industry, confirming its approval at EU level. The announcement was made by the coordinator of SAFE Romania, Mihai Jurca, according to whom the next steps are signing the loan agreement, approval of the programmes by the Romanian Parliament, signing the contracts for Romania by the end of next month and signing the joint procurement contracts by the end of June. Jurca explained that the goal is to have all projects started this autumn and completed by 2030. Of the total amount earmarked to Romania, EUR 16.6 billion, over half is estimated to stay in the country.
CHERNOBYL The risk of a nuclear incident of the magnitude of Chernobyl is zero, said Petre Min, the head of the emergency services at the National Committee for Nuclear Activity Supervision in Romania. He added that since 1986 there has been significant progress in terms of technology, communication and international cooperation. The statement comes ahead of the 40th commemoration of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster on April 26. At that time, a blast occurred at one of the reactors, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe. The effects were devastating, and the impact was felt worldwide. According to the United Nations, the event affected over 3.5 million people and contaminated almost 50,000 square kilometers of land. To this day, the Chernobyl explosion remains the worst nuclear accident in history.
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says no member state can be expelled or suspended from the alliance, amid reports that the Pentagon is considering the option following Spain’s denying the US support in the war against Iran. A NATO spokesman emphasised that the founding document only includes a protocol for the accession of members or for a member country’s withdrawal from the alliance. Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez said he was not at all concerned by reports that the Trump Administration would try to suspend his country from NATO, and stressed that Madrid’s commitment to collective defence remains undeniable. According to Reuters, Washington would also like to punish the United Kingdom by withdrawing support for sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean. The British PM Keir Starmer’s office responded, however, that the British sovereignty over these islands, claimed by Argentina, is not in question. (AMP)
