May 20, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 20.05.2026, 20:00
CONSULTATIONS Romania’s president Nicuşor Dan will continue consultations with political parties on Thursday to appoint a new prime minister, after Monday’s first round of talks ended without a majority being identified to support a future government. The Social Democratic Party wants a cabinet with full powers by July 1, but will not support one led by the Liberal Ilie Bolojan again. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union will not support a government, not even a technocratic one, that includes the Social Democrats, while the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians has asked the president for a mandate to form the new government. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the group of national minorities will support a majority, but without the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. In order to be appointed by Parliament, a government would have to secure the votes of 233 MPs. President Nicuşor Dan called on parliamentary parties to show responsibility and find a common position within a reasonable period of time. The Cabinet led by Ilie Bolojan, made up of the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania was dismissed by a no-confidence vote, after the Social Democratic Party left the government.
EU FUNDING Romania is over 60% in implementing of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, after last week the 4th payment request worth EUR 2.62 billion was approved. The country still has available approx. EUR 10 billion, so the interim government in Bucharest convened on Wednesday to prepare the negotiations with the European Commission scheduled for May 22 in Brussels. During the meeting, the Cabinet led by Ilie Bolojan analysed the investment projects in education, healthcare, energy, public works, economy and digitisation, as well as the reforms undertaken in this respect. A special situation was identified at the ministry of health, where several delayed decisions must be passed as soon as possible to ensure that payments will be received, without which the hospital revamping works financed under the PNRR could not be completed by August 31. In this regard, the interim PM asked the investment and reform coordinators to analyse the financing needed from the public budget so that the funds needed for these projects may be provided.
REFORM Romania’s Permanent Electoral Authority needs a comprehensive reform, said the president of the institution, Adrian Ţuţuianu. He presented the Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies with the key points of a bill on the organisation and functioning of the Authority. The document will also be analysed by the Senate, and then submitted for approval to Parliament’s Permanent Bureaus. The reform aims to restructure and reduce the number of positions. According to Adrian Ţuţuianu, although the Permanent Electoral Authority did not receive any additional responsibilities, since 2015 there has been an increase of over 50% in its organisational chart. He also presented the Legal Committee with the bills that the Authority will submit to Parliament by the end of June regarding the functioning and financing of political parties. The institution is also working on new electoral laws that would regulate early elections.
MUSEUMS The 22nd edition of the Long Night of Museums will take place in Romania on Saturday. This year, over 300 museums from across the country will open their doors to the public, offering guided tours, special exhibitions, chamber concerts and film screenings, with entry mostly free. The Long Night of Museums is a large-scale cultural event launched in 1997 in Berlin. Since 2005, the initiative has become a European brand dedicated to promoting heritage, being supported by the French Ministry of Culture, with the support of UNESCO and the Council of Europe. Romania officially joined the event in 2005.
NATO NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte said Wednesday in Brussels, during a press conference ahead of the Alliance’s foreign ministers meeting due on Thursday and Friday in Helsingborg, Sweden, that NATO must be prepared for the new realities of modern warfare, especially the threat posed by drones. He referred to Tuesday’s intervention by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet, which was on a NATO air policing mission in the Baltic region, where it shot down a drone that had entered Estonian airspace. “It was a Ukrainian drone, but it would not have been there had it not been for Russian aggression.” The conclusion is that NATO’s air defence systems have proven effective again and we will continue to improve our ability to deal with any threat to our territory or population, Rutte said. According to him, such situations are exactly the type of scenarios for which the Alliance is currently preparing.
NEW MUSIC The world’s most important event devoted to new music, the ISCM World New Music Days festival will take place in Bucharest between May 23 and 31. World New Music Days is organised every year by a different host country. Since its establishment in 1923, over 90 editions of this festival have been held, whose mission is to present the incredible diversity of musical creation today. Radio Romania is a co-producer of the event and the Radio Romania Orchestras and Choirs are main partners. The theme of the 2026 edition is The Endless Column, a tribute to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Constantin Brâncuși, whose masterpiece resembles the shape of sound waves. The diversity and stylistic richness of the contemporary Romanian music scene will be presented to over 60 official delegates from 48 countries and regions, as well as to the 70 international composers selected out of 480 entries. (AMP)
