September 17, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 16.09.2025, 20:00
SURVEY Around 57% of Romanian citizens are in favour of earmarking 5% of GDP to defence, as requested by NATO, while 38% do not support this view, according to an opinion poll made public on Tuesday. 47% of respondents believe that in the current geopolitical and military context, Russia could attack Romania, while 43% do not share this view. Also, 37% say Romania should have no involvement with respect to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its support should be humanitarian, at best. Another 33% of the respondents believe Romania should be involved more, and 26% say what Romania is doing at the moment is sufficient. Also, 51% of respondents say they are satisfied with president Nicuşor Dan’s performance in terms of the country’s foreign policy. The foreign leaders with the highest confidence ratings (44%) are the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, and of the United States, Donald Trump.
DIPLOMACY Foreign minister Oana Ţoiu is promoting Romania’s candidacy for a seat on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while taking part in the 69th session of the Agency’s General Conference in Vienna. The final vote takes place on Thursday. Romania, whose candidacy process started a year and a half ago, aims to continue promoting the use of atomic energy for peaceful, safe and responsible purposes, to contribute to consolidating the global non-proliferation and nuclear security regime and to support projects with medical use. Minister Oana Ţoiu discussed on Monday with the head of IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, and on Tuesday she met with the US secretary of energy Chris Wright.
JUDICIARY The former independent candidate in the presidential elections canceled last December in Romania, Călin Georgescu, was sent to trial on Tuesday for complicity in an attempt to commit acts against the country’s constitutional order. Over 20 other people were indicted in the same case, including Horaţiu Potra, a former soldier in the French Foreign Legion, currently a fugitive and wanted internationally. Potra and his men allegedly sought to infiltrate the protests organised immediately after the presidential election was cancelled, in order to create chaos, in a plan developed by Călin Georgescu and his close associates during a clandestine meeting. Călin Georgescu had won the first election round and was top placed to win the second round, when the Constitutional Court decided to cancel the presidential elections and redo them from scratch. According to the Prosecutor General of Romania, Alex Florența, Romania was last year the target of extensive hybrid campaigns by “hostile actors” seeking to influence public opinion, and Călin Georgescu allegedly used them. The investigation presented by the Prosecutor General uncovered substantial evidence of Russia’s systematic disinformation actions in Romania in recent years and of the considerable influencing of the 2024 presidential election, according to president Nicușor Dan, the winner of the presidential elections resumed in May this year.
MIDDLE EAST The Israeli army launched the main phase of its ground offensive on Gaza City last night, a military official said, estimating that between 2,000 and 3,000 Hamas fighters are hiding in the Palestinian enclave’s largest city, AFP reports. Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the capture of Gaza City in August. The army has asked all of the city’s roughly 1 million residents to move to so-called humanitarian areas in the south. Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In response, the Israeli army has been besieging the Gaza Strip since then, causing a humanitarian catastrophe with tens of thousands of deaths, widespread destruction, massive displacement and severe food and water shortages. During a visit to Jerusalem, the US secretary of state Marco Rubio promised PM Netanyahu unwavering support to destroy the Hamas group.
REDFORD The famous US actor and director Robert Redford died on Tuesday aged 89, at his home in Utah, USA. Redford, one of the stars of American cinema of the past 6 decades, starred in films that have become classics, such as ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (1969), ‘The Sting’ (1973) and ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976). Redford used his earnings to establish the Sundance Institute and Festival, promoting independent cinema since the 1970s. (AMP)
