February 26, 2026

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 26.02.2026, 13:58

EBRD In February the EBRD has revised its growth forecast for Romania down to 1.2% against its September forecast of 1.6%, according to the ’Regional Economic Prospects’ report it published today. The 2026 growth and the 2.2% advance in 2027 are backed by the absorption of the European funds in the PNRR and the improvement of the trade balance. However, the weak external demand is a major risk source, the EBRD says. For 2025 the financial institution forecast a reduced growth of 0.9% of Romania’s GDP and a fiscal deficit of 8%, which should go down to 6.2% of the GDP in 2026. A rise in the VAT and energy prices last year brought the inflation rate up to 9.7%, the highest in the EU.

VISIT Romania’s Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan, is in Brussels to participate in the launch of the EastInvest financing mechanism, which stipulates investment of at least 28 billion Euros for the countries at the EU’s eastern border. The Prime Minister’s agenda also includes a series of talks focusing strictly on Romania. After meetings with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Roxana Manzatu, and the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister Bolojan will be meeting the chief of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, for talks related to the implementation of the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience, PNRR. The Prime Minister is expected to also tackle the issue of recovering the 231 million Euros after the adoption of the reform regarding the magistrates’ pensions. The SAFE programme is also high on the agenda, and Bolojan is expected to present the priorities of his government regarding the future multiannual financial framework of the EU with emphasis on the policies of cohesion, agriculture and competitiveness.

DRONE Two F-16 fighters were scrambled last night after radars of the Defence Ministry had signaled the presence in Romania’s airspace of a drone, in the context of a fresh series of attacks Russia launched against the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. Authorities launched a RO-ALERT message for the residents in the north of Tulcea county, on the risk of falling objects. The alert ceased after 30 minutes and the Defence Ministry said there was no real risk to people. Since the beginning of the year, the county of Tulcea has seen another three RO-Alert messages against the background of the war in the neighbouring Ukraine.

LETTER In an open letter, trade unions in Romania’s education system have called on President Nicusor Dan to initiate a reform bill of the education system in order to find solutions to the problems currently affecting the system. The unionists are also asking the president to bring to the attention of the ruling coalition several claims such as the cancellation of the measures deemed as anti-education endorsed last year such as the higher number of working hours and students per teacher as well as the pay cuts operated.

RATE In January Romania also registered the highest inflation rate in the European Union, 8.5%. According to data released by the Eurostat, next in this ranking comes Slovakia and Estonia as the EU average slightly went to 2%. At the opposite poll are France, Denmark, Finland and Italy.

TALKS Representatives of Ukraine and the United States are going to have talks in Geneva about the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Kyiv is hoping to attract 800 billion dollars from public or private funds in the following 10 years, Reuter says. According to the same sources, the World Bank said on Monday that rebuilding Ukraine’s economy would cost 588 billion dollars. The country’s infrastructure has been significantly damaged by the Russian attacks; some front-line cities have been totally destroyed and the country’s energy infrastructure has been seriously damaged. The talks in Geneva are being attended by the heads of the delegations involved in the three-party negotiations: Rusten Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defence National Council, and also the US President’s representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russia is not attending this round of talks but new three-party talks are expected in March, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday after talks with the US President Donald Trump.

(bill)