February 15, 2026
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 15.02.2026, 13:45
RATING Fitch rating agency has affirmed Romania’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at BBB- with a negative outlook. According to the agency, this reflects the continuous deterioration of the public finances and the rapidly rising government debt. The factors, which might lead to a downgrade, would be the failure of implementing the additional measures of fiscal consolidation, which on medium term have the effect of stabilizing the public debt. The rating came on the day when the country’s National Statistics Institute had announced a slight economic growth of 0.6% registered last year, which ended in a technical recession. Experts say this is a warning signal in a stage of economic correction and a comeback will depend on the budget discipline, fiscal stability and the state’s capability of supporting investment.
PORT Romania will take over the international port of Giurgiulesti, in the Republic of Moldova, following the completion of a process initiated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for identifying a strategic investor. In an announcement on social networks, Transport Minister, Ciprian Serban, underlined the decision as a major one for Romania and the entire region of the Black Sea. Giurgiulesti is the Republic of Moldova’s only maritime and river port and a vital hub at the intersection of the Danube with the Black Sea. The project provides for its integration with the Romanian port of Constanta on the Black Sea to create a consolidated logistic corridor to serve the entire region. The agreement provides for the commitment of the Romanian side that the port of Constanta may make massive long-time investment aimed at streamlining and developing the infrastructure in Giurgiulesti.
MUNICH US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has today pleaded for the partnership between the USA and Europe and underlined that Washington does not intend to give up the transatlantic alliance. In a speech delivered at the Security Conference in Munich, Rubo said the United States wants a consolidated NATO and also a strong Europe. According to Reuters, Rubio’s discourse is totally different from the Vice President JD Vance’s fiery address last year. The old world order no longer exists, German chancellor, Friedrich Merz and State Secretary, Marco Rubio, have admitted. The conference was kicked off on Saturday by the German Chancellor who said that although the relation with the United States is important, Europe must be autonomous. Europeans have reiterated their will to shift gears and assume more responsibilities in the field of defence. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, and British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, have stood for this goal.
MEASURES In the following days the government in Bucharest is to endorse a bill on the public administration reform and a package aimed at kick-starting the economy. The government wants to promote the aforementioned documents through an emergency ordinance, not through assuming responsibility in Parliament, because the two laws must be immediately enforced as they are needed in the process of calculating the budget this year. A new Constitutional Court session is also due in the next couple of days over a notification from the Court of Cassation and Justice over the reform of the magistrates’ pensions. The CCR has postponed a decision in this respect five times now and it must analyze the latest notification of the Supreme Court, which wants to notify the EU Justice Court regarding the reform of the service pensions, invoking the risk of discriminating and infringing upon the European laws. A new funding installment of 230 million Euros, from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, has been conditioned upon this pension reform.
WEATHER The weather is getting significantly cooler in the country’s west, north and center. Showers are expected in most of the territory with highs ranging between one and seventeen degrees Celsius. In Bucharest the weather is warmer than the seasonal average with highs ranging between 12 and 13 degrees Celsius.
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