February 24, 2026 UPDATE

The latest news from RRI

Newsroom, 24.02.2026, 20:00

Discussion – President Nicuşor Dan had a discussion with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan on Tuesday in Bucharest ahead of the latter’s visit to Brussels on Thursday. The head of state recalled in an online post that the declaration regarding the launch of the EastInvest mechanism is to be signed, a new European instrument that will make around 20 billion Euros available to nine member states bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to counteract the economic and security effects caused by the war. Romania is among the countries that will be able to access this financing, so as to encourage investments in the south-east of the country, Moldavia, the Danube and Black Sea regions, the president also noted. Nicuşor Dan added that he also discussed with the prime minister the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and specified that Romania needs these European resources to successfully overcome the current complicated period and to generate economic growth on solid foundations.

Ukraine – The Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, were in Kyiv on Tuesday to show their support for Ukraine and to participate in events dedicated to the period of 4 years since Russia’s full-scale invasion. On the other hand, the United Kingdom announced on Tuesday a new assistance package for Ukraine, which includes a training program for Ukrainian helicopter pilots, funds to repair energy infrastructure bombed by the Russians and to also support the resilience of the population and efforts to hold Russians guilty of war crimes accountable. Also on Tuesday, the “Coalition of the Willing” for Ukraine met by videoconference at the request of the two co-chairs, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. This meeting, which was also attended by Romanian President Nicușor Dan, is a continuation of the one in Paris on January 6 and aims to reaffirm the commitment of the 35 participating countries to continue to stand by Ukraine and to help it achieve the conditions for a solid and lasting peace, which would guarantee both its own security and that of Europe. Nicușor Dan announced on Tuesday, after the meeting, that Romania will continue to provide all necessary support to Ukraine. The war resulted in the death and injury of almost 2 million people, including 1,200,000 Russian soldiers and approximately 600,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, according to an estimate by a well-known American analysis center. Several million Ukrainian civilians were forced to flee.

Parliament – The Romanian Parliament was illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on Tuesday evening to mark four years of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The institution thus joins other states that will commemorate, through a joint gesture of solidarity, the victims of the war, announced the Chamber of Deputies, where a moment of silence was observed in memory of the Ukrainian citizens killed in the conflict. Several civic organizations organized public events in various cities in Romania, and, in Constanța (southeast), Ukrainian refugees commemorated the victims of the war, reaffirming their belief in justice and a future lived in peace and thanking Romania for the humanitarian and military support provided.

Meeting – The General Affairs Council (GAC) meeting took place in Brussels on Tuesday. The agenda of the meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European affairs included an exchange of views on the topics on the agenda of the upcoming European Council meeting on 19-20 March 2026, with a focus on Ukraine, competitiveness and defense, the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 and the Middle East. The GAC agenda also included a debate on the European Centre for Democratic Resilience, envisaged within the framework of the “European Shield for Democracy”, an initiative launched in November 2025 by the European Commission. At this debate, Romania was represented by the Foreign Minister, Oana Ţoiu.

Anticorruption – The candidates for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate in Romania (DNA) held interviews on Tuesday before the Commission established at the Ministry of Justice. They are Ioan-Viorel Cerbu, a prosecutor within the DNA, delegated as Deputy Chief Prosecutor; Vlad Grigorescu, a prosecutor within the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism, and Tatiana Toader, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the DNA. The position of Chief Prosecutor of the DNA remains vacant as of March 31. The two candidates aiming for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Cristina Chiriac and Bogdan Pârlog, held interviews at the Ministry of Justice on Monday. Marius Voineag, the current head of the DNA, who is running for the position of Deputy Prosecutor General, was also interviewed on Monday.

Ukrainians – “In 2025, 4,556 cases of fraudulent border crossing from Ukraine to Romania were detected, involving approximately 10,250 Ukrainian citizens: 5,402 in Maramures County, 3,800 in Suceava County and 1,048 at the border line included in Satu Mare County”, all from the north of the country, said on Tuesday the head of the Sighetu Marmaţiei Territorial Border Police Inspectorate (ITPF), police chief Florin Coman, quoted by the Bucharest press. According to him, compared to 2024, when approximately 13,000 Ukrainian citizens were detected at the green border, a moderate decrease in the phenomenon is observed. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion and until now, 31,618 Ukrainian citizens have illegally crossed the state border into Romania. Most illegal border crossings take place in the mountainous area or through the waters of the Tisa River, which involves major risks. Since the beginning of the conflict, 35 Ukrainian citizens have been found dead – the head of the Sighetu Marmaţiei Territorial Border Police Inspectorate also said. In the counties of Maramureş and Suceava, people involved in the trafficking of Ukrainian migrants were also discovered. (LS)