August 9, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 09.08.2025, 20:01
MEASURES A second package of fiscal-budgetary measures aimed at curbing Romania’s budget deficit, the highest in the European Union, is going to be promoted also through assuming responsibility in Parliament by the government as the first package. Deputy Prime Minister, Tanczos Barna, says the decision has been made by all the ruling parties and is going to be implemented next week. This second package would include a series of reforms in the local public administration such as reducing the number of jobs by 20%, an increased decentralization as well as new amendments to the legal framework regulating the taxes levied on buildings. The number of local police forces is also going to be resized. We recall the first package of measures came into effect in Romania on August 1st. The package includes higher excises and VAT, higher healthcare contributions for pensions above 600 Euros, frozen pensions and salaries in the public sector as well as limited bonuses and employments in state institutions. Disgruntled with the new measures, employees in various fields of activity have staged a series of protests.
MAE Romania’s Foreign Ministry has announced in a communiqué that it is presently facing a shortage of personnel, which is getting worse constantly. The crisis was caused by a series of factors such as retirement, resignations due to low wages, years of banned jobs interviews or the enlargement of Romania’s consular network in an attempt to respond to the need of bigger Romanian communities abroad, mainly n European countries. The Ministry’s Foreign Service includes 598 people in diplomatic and consular jobs and 386-strong administrative personnel. Some of these employees have been embedded with various public, central and local institutions. The Ministry has announced that it is going to improve the situation by staging a series of job interviews aimed at attracting highly-trained professionals.
PERFORMANCE The Romanian librarian Avram Iancu on Friday achieved a notable performance by swimming through the Main-Danube Canal linking the rivers Danube and Rhine. The Romanian has thus become the first man to have crossed Europe by swimming along its main rivers from the North Sea to the Black Sea. In 2017, the librarian covered the entire Danube River swimming 2860 kilometers in 89 days. In 2023 he swam 1032 kilometers in 48 days. His last performance in the series was the 556-kilometer Main-Danube Canal, which took him 40 days. Avram Iancu has thus totaled 4448 kilometers of swimming without wearing a neoprene costume, a distance which he covered in 177 days. Among his performances there is also the crossing of the English Channel in 2016 and 2024.
SITE After almost three years of complex restoration and preservation works, the ancient amphitheater at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa in central Romania has been reopened to public. The amphitheater – one of the most precious monuments dating back to the Roman era – will become available for cultural events as its new stands are now boasting up to 500 seats. After two expeditions between the years 101-102 and 105-106 during the reign of Emperor Trajan, the Roman legions conquered the old kingdom of Dacia, at the north of the Danube, and set the capital of the new province at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa. One of the most spectacular buildings was the local Roman amphitheater, which back in its days used to host gladiator fights, artistic performances and sporting events. Most of the ruins of the former ancient Roman capital are scattered around the area as the present village of Sarmizegetusa lies over the ancient Roman settlement.
KYIV The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has stepped up talks with his European allies, after it was announced the US President Donald Trump would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. The Kyiv leader has said that Ukraine and its European allies will work as productively as possible to achieve real peace. “It is truly important that the Russians do not succeed in deceiving anyone again. We all need a genuine end to the war and reliable security foundations for Ukraine and other European nations”, Zelensky says. The Ukrainian president earlier rejected an agreement, which might involve land swapping between Russia and Ukraine.
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