September 13, 2025
A report of local and world news
Newsroom, 13.09.2025, 13:55
NATO – The increased vigilance activity on the Eastern Flank, called “Eastern Sentry”, is a prompt reaction of the North Atlantic Alliance to the repeated violations of the sovereign airspace of NATO member states, Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement. NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Alexus Grynkewich, on Friday announced the launch of a new activity under the authority of SACEUR. The defensive measures entailed are a necessary response to Russia’s irresponsible and dangerous activities, which have serious negative implications on the territory of the North Atlantic Alliance, the Romanian MFA stated. “Eastern Sentry” will be agile, flexible and will cover all actions in the field of air defense, including anti-drone activities, alongside the entire Eastern Flank, involving both air and ground capabilities, the press release also reads. In turn, the Defense Ministry considers that the new operation seeks to ensure the defense of allied territory, from the Far North to the Black Sea, and demonstrates NATO’s cohesion and unity in the face of increasingly complex threats, but also the Alliance’s ability to react quickly and efficiently. Romania has consistently supported the need for a unified approach on the entire Eastern Flank, an objective reflected in the establishment of the eight battle groups and in the increased vigilance measures adopted at NATO level, the Defense Ministry recalls.
DRONES – The United States joined Western allies on Friday in a joint statement at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in which they expressed concern about Russia’s drone attack on Poland and accused Moscow of violating international law and the UN Charter, Reuters reports. The statement, read by Polish Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki, called on Russia to stop its war of aggression against Ukraine and refrain from further acts of provocation. The United States told the UN Security Council that it would “defend every inch of NATO territory”. “The United States stands with our NATO allies in the face of these alarming violations of airspace”, the acting US ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, said. Her remarks seemed to reassure Washington’s NATO allies, after US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russia’s drone incursion into Poland might have been a mistake, Reuters reports. Poland shot down Russian drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday, with support from NATO allies, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have used firepower during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia said its forces were attacking Ukraine at the time of the drone incursions and that they did not intend to strike targets in Poland.
RATING – The fact that Moody’s confirmed Romania’s rating is evidence that our country is on a strong path to fiscal consolidation, but this path is not deprived of challenges, and maintaining the confidence of our investors and international partners will depend on the consistency of our fiscal consolidation policies, Romania’s Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said. According to the Romanian official, the Government will continue to ensure the stability of public finances and the reduction of the deficit, in order to strengthen the resilience of the Romanian economy and provide predictability to citizens and the business environment. Moody’s financial rating agency on Friday confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at Baa3 with a negative outlook, but draws attention to the significant risks regarding the successful implementation of the fiscal consolidation plan. The fiscal measures adopted by the government in July and September this year have significantly improved Romania’s fiscal outlook compared to the expectations of the rating agency, which in March revised the outlook from stable to negative. However, significant implementation risks remain, related to maintaining political support for the program, ensuring spending discipline and achieving revenue growth targets, as well as the risk that the negative growth impact of the package could undermine the fiscal consolidation effort, Moody’s emphasizes. The fiscal consolidation package adopted in July led Moody’s to revise its deficit forecast for 2026 to 6.1% of GDP, from 7.7% previously, and will subsequently lead to a stabilization of the debt eventually to around 65% of GDP.
WORLD EXPO – Romania’s pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka marked, on Saturday, five months of intense activity and promotion of Romanian cultural heritage, as well as scientific innovation, under the concept “Romania, Land of Tomorrow”. Since its opening, the Romanian Pavilion has been offering daily visitors interactive experiences in the area dedicated to arts and crafts, recitals and special events – actions addressed to specialists in the field of technology, special concerts held by Romanian artists with international recognition, as well as visits from high-ranking officials. The pavilion is operating at full capacity, and in August it exceeded the threshold of 500,000 visitors. The pavilion was visited by Kazuhiko Koshikawa, Commissioner General of the 2027 Yokohama International Horticultural Exhibition, an event organized under the aegis of the International Bureau for Exhibitions, who invited Romania to participate in the 2027 World Expo, as well as by Nobuhiko Yamaguchi, the vice-governor of the Osaka Prefecture.
ENESCU FESTIVAL – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, conducted by the Vasily Petrenkois tonight holding its third performance in Bucharest on the sidelines of the “George Enescu’ International Festival. The soloist of the evening will be pianist Bruce Liu, and Carmen Lidia Vidu – multimedia director. The program will include Paganini, Rachmaninov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The Giocoso Quartet will perform at the National Museum of Art of Romania. The soloist will be pianist Luiza Borac. The program includes Enescu, Ravel and Shostakovich. On Saturday, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Collon, was on the Radio Hall stage. Soloists – pianists Lucas & Arthur Jussen. The program included works by Anatol Vieru, Mendelssohn and Schumann. A concert by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and violinist Christian Tetzlaff is scheduled at the Romanian Athenaeum. Also on the Romanian Athenaeum stage will perform Il Giardino Armonico, one of the most important ensembles of period instruments in the world, and the NFM Choir. The 27th edition of the ‘George Enescu’ International Festival takes place in Bucharest and throughout the country until September 21. This year, the event has as its theme the anniversaries – “Celebrations”, marking 7o years since the death of the great Romanian composer.
HANDBALL – The Romanian team Gloria Bistrița is today playing DVSC Schaeffler Hungary in Debrecen, in group A of the Champions League in women’s handball. Last week, in its debut in the current edition, Gloria Bistrița defeated the Norwegian team Storhamar Handball Elite at home. On Sunday, the Romanian champions, CSM Bucharest, will play another team from Hungary, FTC-Rail Cargo, in Group B of the Champions League at home. In the first match, CSM was defeated away by the Danish team Ikast Handbold. (VP)
