September 13, 2025 UPDATE (2)

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 13.09.2025, 20:00

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.

ALERT – Romanian authorities on Saturday issued an alert through the emergency service for the northern area of ​​Tulcea County, located on the border with Ukraine, informing citizens about the possibility of debris falling from the air and urging them to take cover. Such warnings are related to Russian drone attacks on targets on the territory of Ukraine, near Romanian airspace. Representatives of the Tulcea Inspectorate for Emergency Situations remind the population that the territory of Romania is not the target of attacks by the Russian Federation.

PLAN – Romania has officially submitted the renegotiated National Recovery and Resilience Plan to the European Commission, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru, has announced. The document will now go through the formal approval procedure in the Commission and then the decision of the Economic and Financial Council, the Romanian official wrote on social media. Some projects will lose EU funding, while others are completely eliminated and certain projects move from the loan component to the grant component, meaning they receive European funds for free. According to the revised plan, the biggest losses are in healthcare and railway infrastructure. The Government will approve the memoranda on the prioritization of projects financed from the Recovery and Resilience Plan in an special meeting next week.

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.

VOLLEY – Romania lost to Poland 3-0 on Saturday in Quezon City in a match counting towards Group B of the men’s World Cup in the Philippines. In the other group fixture, the Netherlands won 3-1 against Qatar. Romania will next play the Netherlands on September 15 and Qatar two days later.  The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.

HANDBALL – The Romanian team Gloria Bistrița on Saturday won 34-33 away from home against DVSC Schaeffler of Hungary in Debrecen, in group A of the women’s Champions League. 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)