September 29, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 29.09.2025, 19:49
MOLDOVA. The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), a pro-European party in power for four years and founded by President Maia Sandu, won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova. The party won 50.20% of the votes, and with 55 seats in Parliament’s 101, will secure a new majority in Moldova’s single chamber Parliament. The pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, will hold 26 seats; the Alternativa Electoral Bloc run by the Chişinău Mayor Ion Ceban, who has a travel ban on Romanian and European Union territory, will have 8 seats in Parliament; while Our Party and the Democracy at Home Political Party 6 seats each. The latter is considered the surprise of the elections, following an effective campaign on TikTok. The pro-Europeans’ victory came at the end of a campaign in which the authorities, as well as the press, denounced massive interference from the Russian Federation in an attempt to influence the outcome of the vote.
REACTIONS. Romanian President Nicuşor Dan congratulated Moldovan voters on their mobilisation for Sunday’s parliamentary elections and Moldovan authorities for the exemplary way in which they organised the elections. EU leaders expressed their relief regarding the election result. “Moldova, you have succeeded again,” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “Moldova’s future is in Europe!”, said the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, while the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said that the message of the Moldovan people is clear and strong. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the victory of the pro-Europeans, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke of the courage of the Moldovan people for staying on their European course. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia failed to destabilise Moldova and congratulated President Maia Sandu on this important victory.
EU. Romanian president Nicuşor Dan will attend an informal meeting of the European Council and the 7th meeting of the 47-member European Political Community hosted by Denmark on Wednesday and Thursday. According to a statement from the president’s office, the agenda of talks features the conflict in Ukraine and European security. As part of the European Political Community meeting, Nicuşor Dan will attend a round table on the security situation in Europe and aspects related to resilience. He will also have a number of bilateral talks. Denmark said will this week ban all civil drone flights to ensure the security of the meetings. A number of European countries have sent anti-drone systems to bolster Denmark’s security. Since 22nd September, unidentified drones were detected flying over sensitive Danish and Norwegian facilities, such as airports and military bases. At the same time, Russian aerial incursions were reported in the airspace of NATO members Romania, Poland and Estonia. Moscow is accused of waging a hybrid war against countries supporting Ukraine in order to destabilise and test Europe and NATO.
FUNDS. Romania reached a level of absorption of European funds of 17.1% at the end of last month, above the EU average of 12.3%, says the Ministry of Investments and European Projects. Minister Dragoş Pîslaru, said, however, that the pace must be stepped up, because the money received through the cohesion policy is a huge opportunity for the country’s development. In an online post, he indicated that approximately 20% of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan was allocated to the private sector, meaning over 1.15 billion euros exclusively for SMEs. Pîslaru promised that, by the end of the year, all projects that are currently blocked will be resumed. The minister added that the Start-up Nation program will be redesigned using European money, with an emphasis on sustainability and competitiveness, and in order to show transparency in the allocation of European funds, there will be an interactive map with all projects financed through the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the cohesion policy.
UNIVERSITY. The new academic year began in Romania on Monday amid protests from, students. The National Alliance of Student Organisations in Romania staged actions in a number of cities, dissatisfied with a 40% cut in the scholarship fund and restrictions to the 90% discount on train fares between students’ place of study and home city. (cm)
