September 7, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 07.09.2025, 20:00

AVRAM IANCU – Thousands of people attended Sunday the National Celebrations in Ţebea, dedicated to the memory of Avram Iancu, one of the most important heroes of the 1848 Revolution in Transylvania, marking 153 years since his death. The event included a religious ceremony, laying wreaths at Avram Iancu’s grave, evocation of his historical personality and a folk show. In a message conveyed on this occasion, the President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, said that the name of Avram Iancu has become synonymous with the fight to affirm the identity of our people, and the large presence of people at these ceremonies proves that the attachment to national values is a solid foundation on which Romania can continue its modernization and democratic consolidation. Every year, thousands of people gather in Ţebea to honor the memory of the one who fought for the rights and freedom of Romanians in Transylvania.

MEDALS – Romanian athletes won six gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals on Sunday, at the European Rowing Under-23 Championships in Racice, the Czech Republic. Gold was won in the men’s double sculls, men’s quadruple sculls, women’s quadruple sculls, men’s eight plus one, women’s double sculls and in the new mixed eight plus one event. The women’s eight plus one crew won silver, while bronze medals were awarded to the women’s double sculls and women’s four sculls crews. Last year, Romania won nine gold medals at the European Rowing Under-23 Championships held in Edirne, Turkey.

EU – The European Parliament resumes its activity on Monday after the summer break. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will deliver the traditional State of the Union speech on Wednesday in Strasbourg, presenting the priorities of the EC for the coming months. Until then, on Tuesday, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, will be in the European Parliament’s plenary. Her presence takes place before the parliamentary elections in Chisinau, on September 28, which Brussels sees as crucial for the European path of the Moldovan state. In a statement, the European Parliament draws attention to Russia’s attempts to influence the outcome of the election and to divert the pro-European trajectory of the republic through disinformation or attempts to buy votes.

DEFENSE – The Romanian Ministry of National Defense begins, on Monday, an exercise to test the response capacity in a crisis situation. The “Concordia 25” exercise is coordinated by the Defense General Staff and will take place in nine counties in the country, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Protection and Guard Service and the Special Telecommunications Service. The exercise aims to verify action procedures, including for the management of possible chemical, bacteriological, radiological and nuclear incidents. Thus, between September 8-12, patrol actions, mobile camps, public order maintenance missions, mine clearance operations and actions to combat cyber threats will be held.

ATTACK – Russia launched more than 800 drones and ballistic missiles on several cities in Ukraine on Saturday night. The attacks damaged buildings in Kyiv, including the government building, and killed three people, among whom a one-year-old child. “Putin’s missiles and drones have killed innocent people again,” said Romanian Defense Minister Ionuț Mosteanu. He said Romania “strongly” condemns such “criminal attacks” that show “the true face of the Putin regime.” Mosteanu believes that there is no intention of peace in this barbaric attack by the Kremlin. According to him, Russia wants to destroy Ukraine and intimidate Europe.

EDUCATION – The opening of the new school year in Romania, scheduled for Monday, will be boycotted in several counties. Teachers have announced that they will not participate in the festivities. They have been taking to the streets for more than three weeks, in Bucharest and across the country, dissatisfied with the increase in the teaching norm, in the number of students in a class and the merging of schools. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has requested that parents be informed promptly about what will happen in each school on Monday, so that they know what students and preschoolers should do.

MOTIONS – Three of the four censure motions tabled by the nationalist party AUR against the Bucharest government and debated so far have not met the required number of votes. Consequently, the respective reform projects for which the government took responsibility in Parliament are considered adopted. The four projects targeted by the motions of AUR, the Young People’s Party and SOS Romania referred to the fiscal reform, the healthcare reform, the reform of state institutions and of the autonomous companies. For a censure motion to be adopted, 233 favorable votes are required. At present, PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and the national minorities hold a comfortable majority in Parliament, with the opposition missing over 100 votes for any initiative to succeed.(EE)