April 10, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 10.04.2026, 18:17
Summit. Romanian President Nicuşor Dan will host the Bucharest Nine and the Nordic Countries summit on May 13. According to the president’s office, the event will be co-chaired by the Romanian head of state and the president of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, and will focus on strengthening transatlantic security. Initiated in 2015 by Romania and Poland, the Bucharest Nine format brings together the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltic states. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is invited to attend, as well as representatives from Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
US-Romania. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Ţoiu on Thursday evening, praising Romania’s swift and decisive response and emphasising its role as a trusted partner of the United States, the State Department said in a statement. Romania has agreed to temporarily host U.S. defence equipment and troops on its territory in the context of the crisis in the Middle East. The two officials also reviewed opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence, energy, emerging technologies and critical mineral resources. “Our cooperation for deterrence and defence remains relevant in the current security context, anchored in a long-standing and trusted Strategic Partnership. We focused on security, economic developments and shared priorities shaping upcoming high-level and ministerial engagements this year,” Minister Oana Ţoiu posted on X. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Department recently finalised the formal partnership agreement for the MECEA program – Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act – and the first US Congress teams delegation as part of the program is to arrive in Romania by the end of the year, Oana Ţoiu also said on X.
Easter. The Holy Light will be brought to Romania on Holy Saturday on a special flight via Tel Aviv, after the Romanian and Israeli authorities granted the necessary approvals for the transport to take place. The Romanian Patriarchate announced that the mission is possible thanks to the diplomatic efforts made by the Romanian Embassy in Israel, in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Orthodox Christians (who are the majority in Romania) and the Greek-Catholics celebrate Easter on Sunday, one week after Catholic and Protestant Christians.
Cinema. Romanian film maker and 2007 Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu is again in competition for the big trophy in Cannes with his film Fjord. His latest work is a French-Romanian-Norwegian co-production starring Romanian-born actor Sebastian Stan in one of the main roles. It tells the story of a Romanian-Norwegian couple who settle in an isolated town in Norway. The Cannes Festival is to take place on the French Riviera in the second half of May. This year’s jury includes prestigious directors, such as Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar and Japan’s Japanese Hirokazu Koreeda.
Tennis. Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse on Friday reached the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Linz, Austria, worth over one million euros in prize money, after a three-set victory against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, a former Grand Slam winner. This is Gabriela Ruse’s best result this year, in which she hasn’t been able to win more than two matches in a row in any of the tournaments she has played. (CM)
