A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 09.09.2025, 19:47
World Bank. Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu on Tuesday met the representatives of the World Bank in Bucharest. Talks focused on the need to go ahead with actions and projects aimed at improving and modernising the entire justice system in Romania. The minister emphasised the need to continue investment projects to develop and modernise infrastructure, both in courts and in the prison system. He also highlighted the need to step up the digitalisation process, including by implementing IT systems in the judiciary based on artificial intelligence. Talks were also held with a view to find efficient solutions to unblock a project called The District for Justice which is faced with insufficient financial resources. The project refers to a urban compound in Bucharest meant to concentrate in one place a number of judicial institutions. With respect to other ongoing justice ministry projects that require funding in order to be continued and carried through, the representatives of the World Bank reiterated their commitment to having talks to this end with all decision-makers with a view to overcoming financial obstacles.
Protests. In a meeting with Romanian President Nicuşor Dan, the teachers who protested in Bucharest on Monday demanded the resignation of the Minister of Education, Daniel David, and the repeal of the order that provides for the increase in the number of teaching hours and the reduction of the pay for extra hours, the merger of some educational units and the increase in class sizes. After the meeting, unions said protests would go on, both with teachers boycotting classes and by holding street protests, and that an all out strike is not ruled out. Minister Daniel David said the government’s measures have secured teachers’ salaries and student scholarships until the end of the year.
Treason. Alexandru Bălan, a former deputy director of the Intelligence and Security Service in the Republic of Moldova was detained for 24 hours on Tuesday by Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, DIICOT. He was detained in Timişoara (in western Romania) and taken to Bucharest for questioning, being accused of treason and passing secret information to the KGB in Belarus. The 47-year-old suspect is investigated for treason by transmitting secret state information in aggravated form since 2024. He has been involved in the unauthorized disclosure of secret information to representatives of a foreign power, which may threaten Romania’s national security. The investigation, which takes place under the EUROJUST aegis, has benefited from the support of the intelligence services from Romania, Hungary and Czechia, as well as that of prosecutors in Hungary, Czechia and the Republic of Moldova.
Moldova. The outcome of the parliamentary elections on 28 September, the most consequential in the history of the Republic of Moldova, “will decide whether we consolidate as a stable democracy on the path to EU membership, a safe neighbour to Ukraine and a security provider to European Union, or whether Russia destabilises us, pulls us away from Europe, and turns us into a threat on the Ukraine’s south-western border and Europe’s eastern frontier”, said Moldova’s president Maia Sandu in an address to the European Parliament on Tuesday. She also said that her country and Ukraine are ready to advance in their accession talks in a merit-based process that reflects each country’s progress. She added that the European Union is a solid partner for Moldova, which it helped to reform, modernise and build institutions capable to resist under pressure.
Trade deficit. Romania’s trade balance deficit has passed 19 billion euros in the first 7 months of the year, up 7% compared with the same period last year, according to data published by the National Institute for Statistics. Exports accounted for 56 billion euros and imports for 75 billion. In July, exports amounted to 8.9 billion euros and imports to 11.5 billion, thus leading to a deficit of 2.8 billion. (CM)
