November 6, 2026
A roundup of domestic and world news
Newsroom, 06.11.2026, 13:55
Power plant – One of the two units at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant (in southeastern Romania, on the banks of the Danube) has been restarted, nearly four months after it was shut down due to low water flow in the river, which provides cooling for the reactors. Today, the unit will be resynchronized with the national power grid, so that it can reach full capacity by Saturday. Unit 1 was shut down in a controlled manner on July 28 due to the extremely low water level of the Danube, caused by a severe drought. For reasons of nuclear safety, the plant specialists determined at that time that operations could not continue safely. The hydrological crisis subsequently led to the shutdown of Unit 2 as well. The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant provides 20% of the country’s energy through its two units, each of which supplies 700 megawatts to the national power grid. Energy production in Romania is also provided by hydroelectric power (30%), natural gas (17%), wind power (approximately 15%), coal (13%), and solar power (5%).
False bomb threats – On Thursday, false bomb threats targeted several aircraft at Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport, where a crisis response team was set up and bomb disposal experts from the Romanian Intelligence Service conducted inspections. In fact, Bucharest has been caught up in a wave of false bomb threats that have affected at least 20 flights and European airports in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, and Poland. The European Aviation Safety Agency announced that it is monitoring the situation and assessing the potential implications for aviation safety.
Football – Romania’s football champions, Universitatea Craiova (south), defeated the Albanian team KF Egnatia 2-0 at home on Thursday evening in the third round of the Conference League. Universitatea has accumulated 7 points and is in 8thplace in the competition standings. In their first two matches, the Romanians drew 1-1 at home against Spain’s Getafe and won 3-1 in Andorra against Inter Club d’Escaldes. Craiova is the last Romanian team remaining in European competition. The other three, Universitatea and CFR from Cluj (northwest) and FCSB from Bucharest, were eliminated in the preliminary rounds.
Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (36 years old, WTA No. 15) was defeated today by Russian Alexandra Shubladze (23 years old, WTA No. 136), 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong, which offers total prize money of over 280,000 dollars. The day before, Cîrstea (36) defeated the American of Romanian descent Mary Stoiana (23, WTA No. 114) 7-5, 6-1. Sorana Cîrstea has long announced that she will retire at the end of the season. In the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings, released on Monday, Cîrstea matched her career-high ranking of No. 15 after moving up one spot from last week. Two other Romanian players are also in the Top 100: Gabriela Ruse, who remains at No. 60, and Jaqueline Cristian, who moved up four spots to No. 79.
Talks – The Romanian Foreign Minister Dan Neculăescu met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sîbiha, in Bucharest on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the Black Sea, noting that Romania is strengthening its capabilities to protect freedom of navigation. The discussion took place following a new drone attack on a foreign-flagged commercial vessel near Romania’s territorial waters, an incident that resulted in the death of one sailor and the disappearance of three others. Dan Neculăescu also mentioned that next steps had been agreed upon to strengthen the strategic partnership and continue Romania’s support for Ukraine. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of respecting the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, a key issue on the Romanian-Ukrainian bilateral agenda.
Protests – Thursday was another day of protests in France, with no major incidents. Organizers, as quoted by Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris, reported over 1.5 million participants in the demonstrations nationwide, while the Interior Ministry’s count stood at 600,000. Some clashes between protesters and law enforcement occurred at the end of the rally in Paris. Violence was also reported in other cities. More than 400 people were detained by police. Labor unions representing workers in the public and private sectors, supported by high school and college students, pensioners and farmers, are demanding an increase in the national minimum wage by at least 100–150 euros net, as a large portion of the workforce has seen a significant decline in purchasing power in recent times. The protesters also demanded that the government should ease the tax burden on employees and impose higher taxes on large fortunes and companies with massive profits. After nearly a month of social unrest spilling into the streets, the government has put forward an offer to negotiate. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has convened a social conference for Monday, to which representatives of labor unions and employers’ associations have been invited, in an effort to jointly find solutions regarding wage increases.
Summit – Romania has capital, resources, and savings that can be channeled into investments, as well as access to European funds; however, economic development also requires another type of capital, that of trust between the state and the business community, and between institutions and citizens, Prime Minister Luca Niculescu stated today. He participated in a summit titled “How to Unlock Romania’s Capital,” organized by the Concordia Employers’ Confederation. The Prime Minister highlighted that, over the past 20 years, the private sector has shouldered much of the burden of Romania’s economic development. Luca Niculescu argued that the state’s role is to create the necessary conditions for economic development and not to hinder private initiative, emphasizing that this is also one of the fundamental objectives of the government he leads. Finally, the prime minister added that Romania must move to a new level of economic development, in an international context marked by increasingly fierce competition and complex challenges. (LS)
