September 25, 2026

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 25.09.2026, 13:55

Government. In Romania, Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Mureșan, an MEP from the National Liberal Party, has announced that he will finalise his governing programme and the make-up of his cabinet by the end of this week. Mureșan, who has the backing of the PNL, USR and UDMR, said parliamentary hearings and a vote in the full legislature were expected to take place early next week. Meanwhile, opposition Social Democratic Party leader Sorin Grindeanu, whose party holds the largest number of seats in Parliament, has renewed his call for Mureșan to give up his mandate, arguing that he will not secure enough votes for his proposed government to take office. President Nicușor Dan has again urged the parties to reach a political compromise, saying that early elections are not a solution.

Rating. Romania’s interim Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan met a delegation from the international ratings agency Standard & Poor’s in Bucharest on Thursday. The agency’s experts have begun a new assessment of the country’s economic and fiscal developments and will decide at the end of their review whether to keep Romania’s sovereign rating at investment grade. Their report is due to be published on 2 October. Fitch and Moody’s have already maintained Romania’s investment-grade rating, but a downgrade by S&P could push the country into “junk” territory. Such a downgrade could have significant consequences for the Romanian economy, including the withdrawal of some institutional investors, lower foreign direct investment, additional pressure on the exchange rate and higher borrowing costs for both the government and companies.

Cooperation. Regional cooperation must help us address challenges that extend beyond national borders, Romania’s interim Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said in New York on Thursday. In her capacity as chair-in-office of the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the Romanian foreign minister hosted a round-table discussion on the future of regional cooperation at a time of multiple geopolitical challenges. The event was entitled “Regional Cooperation in a Changing World: Ensuring Stability, Resilience and Sustainable Growth through Trust-Based and Results-Oriented Cooperation”. “For regional cooperation to remain relevant, it must demonstrate its added value, not only as a platform for political dialogue, but also as a mechanism for delivering tangible results,” Oana Țoiu said, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry. She reiterated Romania’s support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and stressed the need to keep channels of dialogue open and maintain practical cooperation, even at times of heightened regional tensions.

Arrests. Twenty violent protesters who attacked law enforcement officers during a demonstration by sheep and goat farmers in Bucharest’s Victory Square, outside the government headquarters, last week have been remanded in custody over the past two days. Three other men have been placed under house arrest, while four are being investigated under judicial supervision. Last week, five people were remanded in custody and another five were placed under house arrest. Following the farmers’ protest in Bucharest on 15 September, prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into 40 people on suspicion of incitement, assaulting law enforcement officers, disturbing public order, criminal damage and assault. Investigators say several gendarmes and journalists were struck with hard objects during the violence, while a Gendarmerie vehicle was damaged.

Investigation. The home in Mogoșoaia, near Bucharest,  of former Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, described as pro-Russian,has been seized by prosecutors from Romania’s organised crime and terrorism investigation agency, DIICOT. Georgescu is accused, in the third criminal case against him, of forming an organised criminal group and fraud with particularly serious consequences. Earlier this week, DIICOT sought his pre-trial detention over allegations that he defrauded a businessman of more than one million euros. However, a Bucharest Tribunal judge rejected the request and instead placed him under judicial supervision for 60 days. Prosecutors have appealed against the decision.

Drones. Two Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jets were scrambled again this morning to monitor the situation after Defence Ministry radar systems detected an aerial target about 20 kilometres from the south-eastern city of Galați. Residents of Galați and neighbouring Tulcea county, near the border with Ukraine, were sent an emergency alert in the middle of the night, advising them to take shelter in basements or civil defence shelters, or to remain indoors if no such facilities were available. As no incursions into Romanian airspace were reported, the alert was lifted less than an hour later. In May, Galați was the scene of the most serious drone incident reported in Romania this year, when a Russian unmanned aircraft crashed into an apartment block, causing an explosion and a fire and injuring two people. Another drone entered Romanian airspace from the north-east on Thursday and crashed four minutes later.

AI. Chinese President Xi Jinping has told his US counterpart Donald Trump that their countries have a “responsibility” to oversee artificial intelligence, or AI, to ensure that it remains at the service of humanity. “China and the United States are both leading nations in the field of artificial intelligence. We have both the capacity and the responsibility to ensure that its development remains under human control and serves people’s well-being,” the Chinese leader said at the start of his state visit to the White House. Both leaders sought to emphasise the stability of bilateral relations, despite a number of contentious issues that could lead to disputes, including trade, relations with Taiwan and the conflict with Iran.

Football. Romania’s national football team begin their campaign in the new edition of the Nations League this evening, against Sweden. Romania will then face Bosnia in Bucharest on 28 September, before playing Poland in Warsaw on 2 October and Sweden again at home on 5 October. These will be the first competitive matches of Gheorghe Hagi’s new spell as Romania head coach. The former star midfielder previously managed the national team a quarter of a century ago. Appointed immediately after retiring as a player and with no previous coaching experience, Hagi remained in charge for less than three months. His tenure ended after Romania failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, losing a play-off against Slovenia 2-1 away from home, before drawing 1-1 in Bucharest. (MI)