October 7, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 07.10.2026, 19:44
Consultations. Romania’s new Prime Minister designate, the diplomat and former journalist Luca Niculescu has invited parliamentary parties to talks on forming a majority. He will meet three of them on Thursday, the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Niculescu has 10 days at his disposal to form a government. Niculescu has been given the green light by President Nicușor Dan to negotiate the formation of either a political cabinet, a technocratic one or a mixed arrangement. “We must preserve what works and correct what doesn’t. I will take into account what the parties tell me in the coming days. They have different priorities and that is only natural. My role is to unite them into a realistic programme,” Luca Niculescu said on social media on Wednesday. Many political analysts are skeptical about his chances, while economic analysts argue that he lacks the necessary expertise to manage the country’s finances. Niculescu is the fourth nominee put forward by President Dan for the role of Prime Minister, following the dismissal, via a no-confidence motion on May 5, of the minority government formed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and led by the Liberal politician Ilie Bolojan.
Commemoration. On Wednesday, President Nicușor Dan issued a statement on the commemoration of three years since the attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and over 250 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Nicușor Dan said Romania supports the Peace Council and has opened its hospitals to children from Gaza. Meanwhile, top EU officials conveyed messages of solidarity with Israel. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed the EU’s readiness to help transform the fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace based on a two-state solution. The speaker of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said the European Parliament honours the memory of those killed and reaffirms its commitment to combating terrorism and antisemitism. Following the 2023 attacks, Israel launched a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip, resulting in nearly 75,000 deaths, according to the local Health Ministry. Israel does not allow international media organisations to enter Gaza to report freely.
EU budget. On Wednesday, the European Parliament emphasised that any reduction in the European Union budget for 2028–2034 would make it more difficult to overcome the challenges facing the EU and its member states. At the same time, MEPs highlighted the importance of “own resources” for the EU budget. The European Parliament seeks an increase of approximately 10% over the European Commission’s proposal to support key priorities such as defence, cohesion policies and agriculture. To cover the additional 10%, MEPs propose new EU-level levies targeting major IT companies, online gambling and cryptocurrency transactions. The future European Union budget will also be discussed by the European Council next week. Six states want the budget reduced and their contributions lowered, while 17 countries, including Romania, are in favour of an increase.
National Geographic. The National Geographic magazine has included Romania among the six most beautiful holiday destinations for October 2026. Tourists are invited to discover spectacular sights in the Southern Carpathians, Transylvania, Bran Castle and the Black Church in Brașov, or to explore the mysterious Hoia-Baciu Forest, known for tales of paranormal phenomena. Ranked ahead of Romania on the magazine’s list are New York, Madagascar, Argentina, Scotland and Egypt.
Nobel. The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is shared between French researcher Henri Kagan and Japanese researcher Kenso Soai for their discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Wednesday. On Monday, the prize for Medicine went to America’s Karl Deisseroth and Germany’s Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, while on Tuesday, Belgian Francis Halzen was named the laureate for Physics. The Nobel Prizes, which also recognise outstanding achievements in literature, peace and economics, come with a prize sum recently raised to 12 million Swedish crowns (the equivalent to approximately 1.21 million US dollars) and grant laureates instant fame unimaginable to the vast majority of scientists, according to international news agencies. The Nobel Prize was established by the wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), best known as the inventor of dynamite.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. Between October 5 and 9, the Radio Romania technical team is migrating the broadcasts of the public radio service’s stations to a new technical system. Consequently, we will be airing a backup broadcast via shortwave, across all languages and frequencies used by Radio Romania International. In the meantime, you can find us online at www.rri.ro, including on-demand with updated programs and content, as well as on the RRI apps for Android and iOS and on our social media profiles.
