March 9, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 09.03.2026, 20:04
VOTE In its plenary session on Monday, the Senate in Bucharest turned down a simple motion against the Minister of Investment and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru. This has been the sixth simple motion this year, tabled by the opposition and non-affiliated MPs. The signatories of the aforementioned document are contesting the effectiveness of the talks held by the incumbent minister. They are also asking whether Romania can still get all the PNRR installments by the end of the programme and are calling for a public timetable aimed at eliminating any risks from this strategic document. The minister says the allegations regarding the lack of results have been contradicted by the figures related to the European funds absorption.
OIL The government in Bucharest is expected to make a decision this week to keep fuel prices below RON 10 per litre (about EUR 1.9), as the conflict in the Middle East drove crude oil prices up worldwide, according to the energy minister Bogdan Ivan. The price of Brent crude from the North Sea rose by almost 19% on Monday morning, to almost 120 dollars per barrel, after having already increased by about 28% last week, amid investor fears that a protracted war in the Middle East could severely disrupt energy markets and affect global economic growth, DPA and Reuters report. According to the same sources, the EU members have announced they have enough crude and gas stored in spite of disruptions in the supply chains caused by the war in the Middle East. In another development, the G7 Finance Ministers held talks on Monday over a potential use of the strategic reserves to help stabilize the market, though no decision has been made yet.
NATO NATO confirmed on Monday that it had intercepted a missile heading to Turkiye, Reuters reports. NATO spokesperson, Allison Hart, said in a post on X that “NATO stands firm in its readiness to defend all Allies against any threat.” Turkish Defence Ministry earlier announced that NATO had downed a ballistic missile launched from Iran. This has been the second attack with a ballistic Iranian missile in the past week targeting southern Turkiye. The USA has suspended its consular services in that region and ordered non-essential staff to leave the region due to security risks.
REPATRIATION Romania has requested the activation of the rescEU mechanism, the first country to do so since the mechanism was set in place in 2019, the foreign ministry announced. Based on this, two evacuation flights brought Romanian nationals from Muscat (Oman) to Bucharest’s “Henri Coandă” International Airport. The flights, operated by the Polish airline LOT, carried 273 Romanian nationals affected by the crisis in the Middle East. Another 83 eligible EU and third-country citizens in the rescEU mechanism were also on board. According to the foreign ministry, so far over 2,000 Romanians have returned to the country safely from the states affected by the conflict in the Middle East through evacuation flights, assisted repatriation flights or flights otherwise facilitated by the authorities. Another nearly 1,500 Romanians left the region on commercial flights operated by airlines from Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt or on flights operated by travel agencies, the institution explains. There are around 12,500 Romanian nationals in the region, 2,500 of whom want to return to the country. 400 of them are high-priority cases.
FAIR Romania will be participating in London Book Fair, one of the most important international fairs dedicated to literary professionals, due over March 10 and 12. The Romanian participation in the event has been organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), through the National Book Center and its London branch. In order to highlight Romania’s presence in the fair and attract the British press, the ICR has prepared a series of special events under the motto, ‘Romanian Literature, Foreign Address’. The invitees include the authors, Catalina Florescu, Vesna Goldsworthy, Tatiana Ţîbuleac, authors, editors and translators, Claudiu Komartin and Paul Doru Mugur, professor Alfred Bruckenstein, translator Monica Cure as well as editors Susan Curtis and Will Evans.
TALKS Romania’s President, Nicusor Dan, told the European Council President, Antonio Costa, that ‘Romania wants a completely integrated single market as well as a significantly simplified bureaucracy and administrative burden.’ During a phone call on Monday, the EU high official and the Romanian president tackled Bucharest’s priorities and major issues for Romania in view of the preparations for the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels over March 19 and 20. According to Nicusor Dan, the dialogue focused on issues related to competitiveness and single market, green energy transition, the EU budget and ways of kick-starting the European industry. Another issue discussed was the future European budget framework.
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