September 27, 2026
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 27.09.2026, 13:55
Alert. A new air raid alert was issued in Tulcea County , in south-eastern Romania, on the border with Ukraine. Last night, people were warned via a RO-ALERT message after the Ministry of National Defence’s radar system detected an unidentified aerial target in the area of Chilia Veche, near the river border. Two F-18 aircraft from the Spanish Air and Space Forces, on enhanced Air Policing duty, and an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter from the Romanian Air Force took off to monitor the situation. According to radar readings, the aerial target entered national airspace for a few minutes.
Government. The specialized committees of the Romanian Parliament are set to begin hearings on Monday with the ministers nominated by the Prime Minister-designate, PNL-EPP MEP Siegfried Mureşan. The cabinet is expected to comprise 16 ministers: seven nominated by the PNL, five by the USR, three by the UDMR and one independent candidate supported by the three parties. Three of them also hold the position of deputy prime minister. Ten of the 16 nominees are also members of the current, dismissed government led by the Liberal Ilie Bolojan. The PNL is retaining the same ministers: Alexandru Nazare at Finance, Mihai Dimian at Education, and Dragoş Pîslaru at Investment and European Projects. Also from the Liberals, the current Deputy Prime Minister, Oana Gheorghiu, will take over the Health portfolio. Returning to ministerial posts after brief hiatuses are Raluca Turcan, as Minister of Labour, and Sebastian Burduja, as Minister of Energy. A new appointment: the current President of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean, will take over the Ministry of the Interior and become Deputy Prime Minister, replacing the long-serving Minister Cătălin Predoiu, who has recently been reluctant to support Bolojan’s policies. The USR has also retained four ministers in their current posts: Radu Miruță at Defence, who is also Deputy Prime Minister; Diana Buzoianu at the Environment; Oana Țoiu at Foreign Affairs; and Irineu Darău at the Economy. Cătălin Drulă also returns to the Transport portfolio. The UDMR has retained two of its current ministers – Cseke Attila at Development, and Tánczos Barna at Agriculture and as Deputy Prime Minister. Otvos Koppany takes over at Culture, replacing the unpopular Demeter Andras. For the Justice portfolio, Mureșan is backing the former judge, Andreea Chiş, who has no political affiliation. On Wednesday, Mureșan’s team is set to receive a vote of confidence in the joint plenary session of the two-chamber parliament.
Poll. Almost half of Romanians believe that all politicians are to blame for the current political situation, while 88 per cent feel that Romania is heading in the wrong direction, according to a new poll carried out by the Avangarde Socio-Behavioural Studies Group. According to the study, 49 per cent of those surveyed say that all politicians are to blame for the current political situation. 21 per cent blame the PNL, 11 per cent blame the PSD, 8 per cent blame President Nicuşor Dan, 3 per cent blame the AUR, and 3 per cent blame the USR. At the same time, 88 per cent of respondents believe that Romania is heading in the wrong direction, while 8 per cent hold the opposite view. The greatest concern for the coming period relates to: a possible economic crisis (31 per cent), children’s future (20 per cent), the escalation of the war in neighbouring Ukraine (18 per cent), health issues (11 per cent), and hatred in society (11 per cent). If parliamentary elections were to take place next Sunday, the votes would be distributed as follows: AUR – 36 per cent, PSD – 23 per cent, PNL – 16 per cent, USR – 8 per cent, UDMR – 5 per cent. The remaining parties would not reach the 5 per cent electoral threshold required to enter parliament.
Rating. Romania is set to face another sovereign rating review next week, at a crucial juncture in the formation of the future government – according to reports in the Bucharest media. Parliament is expected to vote on Wednesday on the cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Mureşan, and on Friday, 2 October, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s will publish its country report. A delegation from the agency is already in Bucharest and is holding talks with Romanian officials. Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan says that public finances are on a path to balance, while the acting Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, cites budget execution and continued fiscal consolidation as Romania’s main arguments. The stakes are high: maintaining the rating in the ‘investment grade’ category, on which borrowing costs and investor confidence depend. Over the summer, the credit rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s maintained Romania’s rating in the investment-grade category.
Football. Romania’s national football team are playing Bosnia on Monday evening in Bucharest in another Group B4 Nations League match. The match will be played behind closed doors. On Friday, in their opening match, Romania lost 1–2, away from home, to Sweden. In the same group, Poland and Bosnia drew 0–0. The Romanian national team will play two more Nations League matches during this international break: against Poland on 2 October in Warsaw, and again against Sweden on 5 October in Bucharest.
Weather. Weather in Romania is generally nice, with temperatures close to the seasonal average in most parts of the country. Skies will be variable in the centre, south and east of the country, as well as in the mountains, and mostly clear elsewhere. There will be very isolated light showers (rainfall of 1–3 l/m²) on the coast, and in the afternoon in the Southern and Eastern Carpathians. The highs of the day range between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius. (MI)
