November 22, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 22.11.2025, 13:55
UKRAINE The security of Romania and Europe as a whole depends on the terms of the peace in Ukraine and the subsequent arrangements, president Nicușor Dan said on Friday, emphasising that he is closely monitoring developments in the Russian Federation’s war against the neighbouring country. The Romanian head of state welcomed the US president Donald Trump’s renewed efforts towards a sustainable truce and a formula for negotiated and lasting peace. He also said that he joins in the message of other European leaders who have assured Ukraine of their continued support. “The circumstances prove more than ever the importance of an intense and honest transatlantic dialogue, in the spirit of solidarity between Allies and the complementarity of interests for the EU and NATO,” Mr. Dan said. Today on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, EU leaders are holding an emergency meeting on the 28-point peace plan for Ukraine proposed by president Donald Trump, on which neither Kyiv nor the Europeans have been consulted. Donald Trump has given Kyiv until next Thursday to accept the plan. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the plan and said he would not betray his country. News agencies report that under the US plan Ukraine would lose a considerable part of its territory, some of its army and a prospective NATO accession, although Kyiv is not the aggressor. In contrast, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has described the US plan as a starting point for a definitive solution to the conflict.
DRONES New drone strikes were reported last night in Ukraine, near the Romanian border on the Danube, the Romanian defence ministry announced. Two F-16 fighter jets took off to monitor the situation, and the locals were warned via Ro-Alert messages. No national airspace violations were detected. The defence ministry says that it stays alert at all times and ensures strict surveillance of Romania’s air, maritime and land space. Contact with NATO Allies is also permanent. An announcement was made on Saturday that because of Friday night’s strikes, Danube ferry crossing between the Romanian town of Isaccea and the Ukrainian village of Orlivka was suspended and traffic was rerouted. The two ferries that service the route are docked in Romania.
DEFENCE The Romanian Presidency announced today that it has received notes on the draft National Defence Strategy for 2025-2030, currently under public review, both from civil society and from public institutions with responsibilities in defence, national security and foreign policy, and that several changes have been operated to clarify some provisions of the document. Other suggestions, while not integrated into the Strategy, will help substantiate the steps in its implementation plan, the Presidency also announced. President Nicuşor Dan convened a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on Monday, November 24, to discuss the Strategy among other things. The document, based on the concept of ‘solidary independence’, provides a strategic framework for the organisation and coordination of defence and national security.
BY-ELECTION The campaign for the local by-elections of December 7 for the Bucharest City Hall began today, with 18 candidates in the race. The mayor general seat has been vacant since Nicuşor Dan was elected president of Romania in May. Also on December 7, elections will be held for the Buzău County Council chief and the mayors of 12 localities. The interior ministry announced that it will ensure the smooth conduct of the campaign and the election, and added that measures have already been taken to ensure that they take place in safe conditions for candidates and citizens.
COUNCIL of EUROPE The Republic of Moldova has taken over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. According to Chisinau, a priority of its term will be to facilitate support for Ukraine and the need to hold Russia accountable for aggression. Moldova also aims to promote a new pact for democracy, to fight disinformation and foreign interference, as well as to strengthen democracy, human rights and the implementation of ECHR decisions. Based in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is a European intergovernmental organisation that currently has 46 member states, after the Committee of Ministers decided to exclude the Russian Federation from the CoE in 2022. (AMP)
