September 28, 2026
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.09.2026, 13:55
Drones. A specialist team from the Romanian Ministry of Defence travelled today to Tulcea (in the south-east, on the border with Ukraine), after radars detected a drone on Sunday evening that had entered Romanian airspace and was flying along the border. Its signal disappeared after approximately 10 minutes. Two F-16 aircraft from the Romanian Air Force, on Air Policing duty, took off from Borcea Air Base 86 to monitor the situation, and the public was alerted.
Government. In Romania, the ministers nominated by the Prime Minister-designate, Liberal MEP Siegfried Mureşan, are being interviewed on Monday and Tuesday by the relevant parliamentary committees. The vote of confidence is scheduled for Wednesday. The PNL, USR and UDMR – the parties supporting Mureşan – are counting on 170 votes, compared with the 233 required for the vote of confidence. The PSD (in oppoistion) and the populist, ultra-nationalist opposition party AUR, have announced that they will not vote in favour of the Mureşan cabinet. These two parties initiated the motion of no confidence that led, in May, to the fall of the PNL-USR-UDMR cabinet led by the Liberal Ilie Bolojan. Siegfried Mureşan presented a government programme which includes, among other things, state reform, stimulating the private sector, improving the performance of state-owned companies and reducing the number of MPs. He gave assurances that his government would not raise taxes and duties.
Deficit. Romania’s consolidated general budget recorded a deficit of 2.89 per cent of the GDP at the end of August, the Ministry of Finance announced, compared with a deficit of 4.51 per cent in the same period of 2025. This represents an improvement of approximately 1.62 percentage points, the ministry states. In nominal terms, the deficit stood at approximately 60 billion lei (approx. 11.3 billion euros). Romania has set itself a budget deficit target of 6.2 per cent of the GDP for this year.
Rating. Representatives from Standard & Poor’s are in Bucharest to assess Romania’s sovereign credit rating, against a backdrop characterised both by efforts to reduce the budget deficit and by the ongoing political crisis. The agency’s experts are due to announce on Friday, 2 October, whether they will maintain Romania’s ‘investment grade’ rating. Budget execution and the continuation of fiscal consolidation are Romania’s main arguments in the current rating review, according to the acting finance minister, Alexandru Nazare. He says that this assessment determines the terms on which Romania secures financing, investor confidence and the resources that the Romanian state can channel towards development, rather than paying them out in interest. Moody’s and Fitch have maintained Romania’s sovereign rating.
Exercise. One of the largest interoperability exercises ever organised in Europe began on Sunday in Romania, the Gendarmerie has announced. According to the source cited, over 500 military personnel and gendarmes from 19 countries across three continents are taking part in the exercises. Between 27 September and 2 October, training activities, including tactical simulations and troop movements, are taking place in four southern counties. According to the organisers, the exercise may also involve the use of drones and helicopters. ‘There is no cause for panic. All activities are planned, controlled and form part of a training exercise, posing no real danger to the public,’ the Gendarmerie stated.
Energy. The European Union is facing an energy price crisis against the backdrop of the effects of the war in Iran on the oil and gas markets, said the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jorgensen. The EU official sent a letter to Member States, urging them to consider measures to reduce energy consumption. “We are facing a price crisis linked to a supply crisis,” the Commissioner said.
Football. Romania’s national football team face Bosnia at home this evening in their second match of the new Nations League season. In their opening match, the ‘Tricolours’ lost 2–1 away to Sweden last Friday. In the same group, Poland and Bosnia drew 0-0. Romania’s national team will play two more Nations League matches next month: against Poland on 2 October in Warsaw, and again against Sweden on 5 October in Bucharest. (MI)
