February 15, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 15.02.2026, 19:49
PEACE Romania’s President, Nicusor Dan, has announced his intention to participate in the first proceedings of the Board of Peace in Washington upon the invitation of the US President, Donald Trump. The announcement was made in a Facebook post in which president Dan underlines Romania’s role in supporting international diplomatic initiatives. According to the message, Romania will have the statute of observer and will reiterate its support for the international efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza. At the same time, the president has conveyed Romania’s readiness to contribute to the reconstruction process in the area. According to the post, the participation in the talks is motivated by the willingness to support the diplomatic process consacrated through the UN resolution in November initiated by the US. In his message, president Dan recollects that Romania has constantly pleaded for identifying a political solution aimed at ending the conflict and has provided humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza including through medevac operations.
BERLIN A statement on consolidating the resilience of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in key areas such as energy and cybersecurity and cooperation for a better ground connection of these three countries was adopted at the ministerial meeting of the trilateral format ‘The Odessa Triangle’, which took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. According to a communiqué by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the trilateral meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Oana Toiu and her Moldovan and Ukrainian counterparts. The joint statement reiterates Romania’s strategic role for the European integration of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova both politically and institutionally as well as through the contribution of civil society the communiqué says. On the sidelines of the aforementioned conference, Romania’s Foreign Minister met representatives of the Romanian community in Bavaria, which accounts for approximately three thousand people. The minister has announced the community members that during the talks she had with Bavarian officials she tackled the idea of launching Romanian language courses for children in local schools in Germany and the possibility of expanding free courses staged by the Foreign Ministry jointly with the Romanian Language Institute starting this school year.
VISIT Romania’s Defence Minister, Radu Miruta, talked with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, about strengthening the Eastern Flank and Romania’s essential role in this architecture. The Romanian official underlined the Eastern Flank is the entire segment from the Baltic to the Black Sea and resources have to be equitably distributed along this strategic axis. Romania, the Defence Minister went on to say, must be seen as a central pillar in the Black Sea region. Radu Miruta attended the Security Conference in Munich, held on Saturday and Sunday. On its sidelines, the Romanian minister held talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shinijiro Koizumi, and with leading figures of Europe’s industry and technology with whom he assessed prospects of cooperation in the output of defence systems and equipment, digitization of industrial processes, the resilience of supply chains and the development of advanced technological capabilities.
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, on Sunday 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 two-day 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.
(bill)
