(BUCHAREST) – Romania will reportedly lose 770 million euros ($832 million / £658 million) in European Union funding after political turmoil stalled legislation required by the European Commission to overhaul struggling state firms and public sector pay.
The Financial Times reported that the Commission required revised laws linked to COVID-19 pandemic recovery funds to be adopted by 31st August. Bucharest missed the deadline after the Social Democrats opposed the bills and withdrew from the ruling pro-EU coalition.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan then lost a no confidence vote, and politicians have since been unable to agree on a new prime minister.
The funding loss comes amid broader instability in the region. Moldova and Romania reported new airspace violations near their borders with Ukraine on Sunday. Moldova’s defence ministry said a foreign aircraft entered the country’s airspace from Ukraine’s Odesa region near the separatist territory of Transnistria. It returned along the same route about ten minutes later.
Romanian military radar detected an aerial target near the border. Both countries have experienced numerous airspace violations in recent months. In May, a Russian drone crashed into a Romanian apartment building.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced plans to strengthen the country’s air defences during a commemoration of Moldova’s 35th anniversary of independence earlier this month.
Ukraine reported that Russia launched nearly 2,000 attack drones and more than 1,600 aerial bombs over the past week alone, killing dozens of civilians. Ukraine has continued striking military sites and energy facilities deep inside Russia.
A Russian missile strike hit runners competing in a race in the Kharkiv region, killing three people. At least three others were injured in Russian assaults on Kyiv overnight. Russian forces also attacked port infrastructure in Mykolaiv with drones and cruise missiles on Saturday night.
Ukrainian MP Alexiy Goncharenko told TVP World that Russian authorities should be put on trial for crimes against humanity.
“Such people from the high political military leadership of Russia should be taken to this tribunal. We all understand all the challenges of this because we don’t have access to these people. When we’re comparing this to Nuremberg tribunal against Nazi war criminals which absolutely are equal to Russian war criminals,” Goncharenko said.
The death toll from Friday’s drone strike on the village of Myla in the Bucha district has risen to at least 38 people, with 42 others wounded including four children.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that in defending itself, Ukraine has again struck Russian facilities that provide support to the Russian army.
“Overnight, the defence forces of Ukraine struck sites used for the storage, preparation and launch of attack drones in the Oryol and Rostov regions. There were strikes on a military airfield in Yeysk and in the Black Sea. Our warriors also imposed long range sanctions on an oil refinery in the Leningrad region that generates millions of dollars every month for Russia’s war budget,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president added that over the past week, Russia used nearly 2,000 attack drones, more than 1,600 aerial bombs and 31 missiles of various types, including North Korean ballistic missiles against civilian targets.
In his evening address on Sunday, Zelenskyy warned that Russia’s strategy was to wear Ukraine down with constant drone attacks. He also said Kyiv was stepping up contacts with representatives of US President Donald Trump.
“We’re doing everything possible to ensure that war does not remain the only option for what comes next. It’s important that America shares many of our views on the situation, both on the front line and regarding the strikes,” Zelenskyy said.
“Russia’s current tactic is to exhaust Ukrainians first and foremost. There are constant drone attacks, including using large numbers of jet powered Shaheds. And our warriors are shooting down a significant share of them. In just these four days, almost 1,500 drones of all type took part in the attacks. Around 800 of them jet powered. The most difficult task is intercepting these jet powered drones. At the moment, our combat aviation is primarily responsible for defending against them. In the autumn, we must deliver a response and bring our interception rate to firmly above 90 percent.”
Iceland has narrowly rejected a return to European Union membership talks. In Saturday’s referendum, nearly 53 percent voted against restarting negotiations, with just over 47 percent in favour.
Iceland already has a close relationship with the European Union. It is a member of the European Economic Area, the European single market and the Schengen zone. However, it cannot influence decisions or regulations but must abide by them.
US forces bombed two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island. According to US Central Command, they were preparing to launch naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Central Command stressed that the attack was not an act of aggression, calling it a limited precise action to prevent Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from laying mines.
Iranian media reported the attack killed and wounded several Iranian fighters and civilians. The IRGC said it responded by attacking US military bases in Jordan and the UAE.
The death toll from a ferry that capsized off the coast of North Cyprus on Sunday afternoon has risen to eight, with 18 people remaining missing. The privately owned ferry left the port of Kyrenia shortly after noon and immediately began taking on water for unknown reasons. There were 267 people on board, including a crew of eight.
Rescue operations are continuing after catastrophic flooding along the border between Nepal and China. The disaster was caused by a glacier collapse on Wednesday. Authorities said the death toll rose to 750 by Sunday morning with more than 3,000 people missing on both sides of the Nepal China border.
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, with China high on the US agenda. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to encourage G20 members to re-examine their terms of trade with China and to press Beijing into shifting its economy away from exports and towards domestic consumption.
Former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has shared photos from a detention centre months after his capture by US forces. The pictures show him making peace signs while he says he is “standing firm.” Maduro and his wife are being held in a New York jail on drug trafficking and firearms charges, both of which they deny. The trial is scheduled to begin 1st June 2027.
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