February 10, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 10.02.2025, 13:55
PRESIDENT A third request to impeach president Klaus Iohannis may be analysed today by the leaders of the Romanian parliament in a joint meeting of the two chambers’ standing bureaus. The request is signed by 178 MPs, most of them from the self-proclaimed sovereigntist opposition (the Young People’s Party, AUR and SOS Romania) but there are also 26 signatories from the pro-EU Save Romania Union. Under the Constitution, the president can be removed from office only with a majority of the votes of senators and deputies, and only if the president breaches the Constitution. A total of 234 votes are needed, which the opposition does not have. On the other hand, the presidential candidate of the ruling coalition, the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, admitted that the coalition leaders could have a meeting with president Iohannis today, concerning the opposition’s impeachment attempt. In an interview on the public television station, Antonescu said that the meeting was not announced publicly and that the president may decide to step down. Mr. Iohannis has announced twice so far that he did not intend to resign. On December 21, his second and last five-year presidential term under the Constitution came to an end, but his term was extended until a new head of state has been elected and validated by the Constitutional Court.
BUDGET President Klaus Iohannis Monday signed into law the 2025 state budget and social security budget bills. These were endorsed last week by the joint chambers of Parliament. The budget is based on a 2.5% economic growth rate and a budget deficit of 7% of GDP. The finance minister Tanczos Barna stated in the joint parliament meeting that the 2025 state budget is ‘modest’ and is based on a prudent increase in revenues, ‘without exaggeration’. He also pointed out that the social security budget law provides ‘primarily for pension payments’.
SUPERMARKETS PM Marcel Ciolacu said legislation should be introduced so that all products in major stores should have the same mark-ups. One day ahead of a boycott on supermarkets announced for today by the supporters of the former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, PM Ciolacu presented in an online post the Romanian products he had bought. Roughly 800,000 Romanians work in the over 4,500 large stores in the country, and the taxes paid by such chains account for 13% of the revenues to the state budget. Moreover, according to data from the agriculture ministry, 70% of the products in retail stores in Romania are made in Romania. Early this month, customers in several Balkan countries joined a large-scale boycott on supermarkets, amid rising food prices. The protests that started in Croatia have spread to Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.
ECONOMY An International Monetary Fund delegation concluded its discussions in Bucharest with the main institutions in charge of Romania’s monetary and fiscal policies. It was not an assessment mission, but only fact-finding one, and PM Marcel Ciolacu assured the IMF experts of the government’s determination to comply with the budget deficit target of 7% of the GDP and to implement the reforms undertaken in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The IMF made public its latest forecasts regarding the Romanian economy last autumn, when it estimated a 7% deficit for the end of 2025, the same as predicted by the Government. However, the Fund’s estimates are more optimistic both as regards the economic growth rate and the inflation. In turn, World Bank officials welcomed the government’s reform plan and the attention paid to investments, noting that Romania is a strong and resilient partner.
POLICE Romanian police are still searching for the attackers involved in Saturday’s violent incident in Urziceni (not far from Bucharest), in which 2 people were killed and 5 others wounded. On Sunday, police found several weapons buried in a courtyard in the town, including a hunting rifle, a pistol with non-lethal ammunition and a belt with 5 cartridges. According to initial reports, the conflict broke out between members of two clans, and the reason is said to be related to the relationship between two youngsters. Over 25 people were involved in the clash.
KOSOVO Kosovo’s left-wing nationalist PM Albin Kurti claimed victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, saying he was optimistic about forming a new government. Unlike in the previous term, however, his party will not be able to form a parliamentary majority on its own. Kurti and other Kosovo party leaders have made it clear that they have no intention of working together, making it unclear how a ruling coalition could be formed in Pristina. (AMP)
