September 23, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 23.09.2025, 13:55
TALKS President Nicuşor Dan invited the leaders of the ruling coalition, comprising the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and Save Romania Union (USR) to talks intended to smooth out divergences within the coalition over the local administration reform and capping the commercial mark-up on basic foodstuffs. The leaders of the 4 parties will try again today to reach a consensus. PSD insists that the regulation be extended beyond October 1 and has submitted an amendment to the Senate in this regard. On the other hand, PNL and USR say that government’s intervention does not benefit the market, and the capping was designed as a temporary measure.
UN The 80th UN General Assembly opens in New York today, amid multiple global crises, from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to climate change. Some 140 heads of state and government are attending the annual UN summit, an anniversary one this year, marking 80 years since the founding of the United Nations. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will present the so-called UN80 Initiative, designed to lead to a systemic reform of the organisation. A large number of world leaders attended a meeting yesterday in New York, organised by France and Saudi Arabia and aimed at boosting the two-state solution. During the conference, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and Andorra announced that they recognise the state of Palestine, thus trying to increase the pressure on Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip. A day earlier, the decision to recognise Palestine as a state had also been made official by the UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal. World leaders also have other major topics on the agenda, such as Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yesterday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky asked the leaders gathered at the UN headquarters to put real and strong pressure on Russia to end the war. The Romanian delegation is led by the foreign minister Oana Ţoiu.
DEFENCE President Nicuşor Dan has called a meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council on Thursday, with national airspace security as the main topic on the agenda. According to a press release from the presidency, the participants will decide on the sites that require protection against the threats posed by unmanned aircraft, and on who has the right to order and approve measures against drones and other aircraft that enter the country’s airspace without permission. A law took effect this May, which in theory allows for shooting down unmanned aircraft that enter the country’s airspace illegally, but the procedures that establish the chain of command in such situations have not yet been finalised.
NATO NATO ambassadors are meeting in Brussels today to discuss recent incidents in which Russian drones and aircraft have violated the airspace of some member states. The talks are held at the request of Estonia, based on Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, after 3 Russian aircraft entered its airspace on Friday. The incident sparked protests from the North Atlantic Alliance and the EU, while Moscow denies the claims about the event. Romania’s foreign minister Oana Ţoiu condemned the violation of Estonian airspace. The meeting in Brussels will also tackle Operation Eastern Sentry, which provides for the strengthening of the defense of the alliance’s eastern border and which was activated after Russian drones entered Polish airspace, and some of them were shot down. This is the second time this month that a NATO member has requested such consultations, after Poland. Romania, which is the 3rd country in which a Russian drone violated national and NATO airspace, did not request such consultations.
ENVIRONMENT Greenpeace Romania and Greenpeace Bulgaria organised on Monday, on the beach in Vama Veche (Romanian Black Sea coast) an awareness-raising event concerning the urgency of protecting the vulnerable ecosystems of the Black Sea. According to a news release from the environmental organisation, over 50 activists from Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia placed a giant 12-meter lifebuoy on the beach. The activists also displayed messages such as “Their exploitation, our suffering”, “Together for the Black Sea”, “Black Sea without drilling”. With this symbolic intervention, Greenpeace warns against the major dangers threatening the Black Sea, from pollution generated by war, spills and fishing to the opening of new offshore fossil fuel works, Greenpeace says.
MOLDOVA President Maia Sandu made a strong appeal to Moldova’s citizens, claiming that Russia is trying to destabilize the country using money, disinformation and provocations ahead of Sunday’s elections. The president of Moldova launched a strong message on Monday, warning that the country’s independence and European future are under threat. “The Kremlin is throwing hundreds of millions of euros to buy votes, intoxicates people with lies every day and pays people to create disorder and violence,” she said in an address to Moldova’s people. Sandu urged citizens to defend the country by voting responsibly. (AMP)
