December 2, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 02.12.2025, 20:00
LEGISLATION The government took responsibility on Tuesday on the magistrates’ pensions bill, after having passed the final text of the draft law, without amendments, in an special Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. PM Ilie Bolojan told Parliament that the bill addresses an instance of social injustice, while at the same time paving the way for a sustainable pension system and meeting a commitment made by Romania under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The document stipulates that magistrates’ pension benefits cannot exceed 70% of the last net salary, and the retirement age will gradually increase to 65, with a transition period of 15 years, running as of January 1, 2026. Unless a motion of censure is submitted within 3 days of taking responsibility, the bill is considered endorsed. Also within 3 days of taking responsibility, the draft legislation can be referred by parliamentary groups to the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, president Nicușor Dan, or the Ombudsman.
POPULATION Romania’s population could drop to 14.37 million people by 2080, from little over 19 million in 2025, in the most pessimistic of the scenarios reviewed in the National Statistics Institute’s research paper “Projected active population of Romania towards the year 2080.” In the most likely scenario, the population decrease would be 18%. The INS vice-president Silviu Vîrva, who coordinated the paper, says that regardless of the scenario, Romania’s population will continue to decrease by 2080, with the magnitude of the decline varying between one-tenth and one-quarter of the current population.
POWER PLANT The Romanian energy group OMV Petrom, controlled by the Austrian company OMV, announced on Tuesday that its 860 MW gas-fired Brazi power plant (Prahova County, southern Romania) has closed due to water supply restrictions. Romanian authorities cut off water supply through a dam due to water quality issues, leaving 100,000 people in Prahova and Dâmboviţa counties (south) without running water. The Brazi power plant, which supplies about 10% of Romania’s electricity, is to be reconnected to the national grid on December 4. The National Energy System has enough capacity to fully cover consumer needs, in the context of the temporary suspension of the Brazi power plant, the energy ministry announced.
NATO The North Atlantic Alliance is moving forward rapidly on measures to protect the Eastern Flank, including Romania, through the ‘Eastern Sentry’ programme, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte said on Tuesday. According to Rutte, part of Eastern Sentry (…) is to ensure that we become increasingly better at addressing the threat posed by drones, both by producing drones ourselves, ensuring that we have the latest technology, and also through anti-drone technology. The statements were made at a press conference in Brussels ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
HANDBALL Romania’s national handball team Monday evening lost 31-39 to Denmark in its last match in Group A of the World Championship hosted by the Netherlands and Germany. After winning their first 2 games, both teams were already qualified for the so-called main groups of the competition. In this stage, Romania will take on Hungary on Wednesday, on Senegal on Friday, and on Switzerland on Sunday. The top two teams in the main group will qualify for the quarterfinals. Romania has taken part in all editions of the Women’s Handball World Championship, winning gold medals in 1962, silver in 1973 and 2005, and bronze in 2015. (AMP)
