October 22, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Mihaela Ignătescu, 22.10.2025, 18:00

Elections. The ruling coalition parties (PSD – PNL – USR – UDMR) have decided that the elections for the Bucharest’s General City Hall will take place on December 7. The position of mayor of the capital remained vacant after the election of Nicuşor Dan as president of Romania. The parties in the coalition decided that each one will have its own candidate in this competition and agreed that future candidates would not attack each other. On December 7, the election for the designation of a new president of the Buzău County Council (southeast) will also take place. According to the law, mayors and heads of county councils are elected in a single round.

Drone. Residents of Tulcea County, on the Romanian border with Ukraine, received a new RO-ALERT message last night due to a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube. The surveillance systems of the Romanian Defense Ministry detected, in advance, a group of air targets moving towards the Chilia arm and the Danube Delta area and, according to procedures, two F-16 aircraft took off to investigate the situation. At the same time, two German Eurofighter Typhoon fighters carried out reinforced air policing missions. According to the spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, approximately 10 explosions were reported on the Ukrainian bank, in the area of the Ismail and Chilia localities, but no intrusion of unmanned aerial vehicles into the Romanian airspace was detected.

Service. On Wednesday, Bucharest MPs adopted, as the first chamber to be consulted, the draft law on military volunteering, namely the draft law amending and supplementing the law on preparing the population for defense. The bill aims to establish a legal framework for the voluntary performance of active military service in peacetime by citizens who wish to receive military training. Thus, young Romanians between the ages of 18 and 35 will be able to voluntarily apply for enrollment in the four-month basic military training program. Volunteers will receive free accommodation, equipment, food, medical care, and medication, as well as monthly allowances similar to those received by conscripts. At the end of the training period, they will receive an allowance of three times the average gross salary and will remain in the operational reserve of the Romanian Army.

Visit. The Romanian Economy Minister, Radu Miruţă, is on a formal visit to South Korea to identify cooperation opportunities in the field of defense, with focus on investments by South Korean companies in the production of military equipment and technological development projects in partnership with Romania. According to a press release from the relevant ministry, Radu Miruţă had talks with the South Korean Defense Minister, Ahn Gyu-back, with the director of the South Korean military procurement agency, Jong Gun Seok, and participated in a roundtable with the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Radmila Şekerinska. The discussions focused on ways to expand cooperation in the defense industry, including local production in Romania, through partnerships with South Korean companies. The conditions under which South Korean companies can participate in the European Union program – SAFE, created to support member states to make rapid and significant investments in the defense industry and technology, were also discussed.

Chisinau. President Maia Sandu asked the new Parliament in Chisinau, which gathered on Wednesday for its inaugural session, to work on harmonizing legislation with the European legislation so that the Republic of Moldova can join the EU during the current legislative term. In her speech to parliamentarians, Maia Sandu said that the country was going through the most difficult period since independence and that it needed unity and dedication more than ever. According to Radio Chisinau, the head of state called for the continuation of judicial reform, support for the economy, and measures to encourage the diaspora to return home. Integration into the European Union remains the only way for the Republic of Moldova to become a peaceful, free, and prosperous state, Maia Sandu told the Parliament in Chisinau.

EU rules. Romania, alongside the other EU member states, has three years to transpose new road safety rules into national law and an additional year to prepare for enforcement. The European Parliament approved that the driving license be valid for 15 years, only 5 years for bus and truck drivers and that there should be a probationary period of at least two years for new drivers. Romania has the highest number of people killed in car accidents in the EU, while Sweden has the highest road safety. The European Parliament also decided that a future digital driving license, accessible on a mobile phone, will gradually replace the physical one throughout the Union. (MI)