February 3, 2026 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 03.02.2026, 19:49

Visit. The Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Ţoiu on Tuesday began a three-day working visit to Washington, where she will participate, on Wednesday, in the first ministerial meeting dedicated to critical minerals, at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. This meeting aims to strengthen cooperation to ensure secure and diversified supply chains both bilaterally and in the EU-US relationship. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, later in the year, proposals for trade partnerships will be discussed within a technical working group at the Romanian government level, to facilitate strategic investments in the field. Strengthening the economic dimension of the Strategic Partnership with the United States and developing opportunities for joint investments are part of the Romanian government’s key objectives, aimed at positioning Romania as a key European actor in the essential field of rare minerals, the Romanian Foreign Ministry also said.

Romania-Israel. On a three-day official visit to Israel, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, Sorin Grindeanu, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks on the accelerated development of bilateral economic relations. “We both want more Romanian companies to enter the Israeli market and new important investments by Israeli companies in our economy. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a close partner of our country. I am convinced that he will help us take from Israeli companies the highest level of expertise in artificial intelligence and technological innovation to apply it in all essential branches of the economy,” Sorin Grindeanu said on social media. He added that this subject was also discussed during talks with the speaker of the Israeli Parliament Amir Ohana, whom he described as “a true friend of Romania”. “There is full openness from the authorities of the State of Israel to develop bilateral cooperation,” Sorin Grindeanu said.

Confidence. The National Political Bureau of the Liberal Party granted, on Monday evening, a vote of confidence to the party’s president, the Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. Together with Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, he presented the main directions of an economic recovery package, currently being finalized, structured on two major levels. The first is the reconfiguration of state aid schemes, and the second has a broad fiscal component addressed to micro-enterprises and the entire business environment. The state aid schemes will be reconfigured by launching seven programs, including for mineral resources and critical raw materials, research and development, new technologies and for the defense industry. For several months, the Social Democratic Party, which is part of the four-party governing coalition alongside the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, has been demanding the adoption of measures to support the economy. These should be adopted simultaneously with a bill on the reform of public administration either with the government calling for a vote of confidence in Parliament or by emergency order.

Economy. Romania’s economic growth between 2022 and 2024 would have been 1.2% lower without the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, shows a study by the National Bank of Romania. The report explains that European funds, both those related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and those part of the standard multiannual financial framework contributed to mitigating the negative consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and facilitated the country’s economic recovery. The document emphasises that the implementation of the provisions included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan was affected, however, by delays reflected in a slow pace of investments and reforms, which led to delays in the transmission of payment requests and subsequently to the renegotiation of the Plan. The authors of the study note that, by the end of November last year, Romania had attracted approximately half of the renegotiated allocation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, namely 21 billion euros.

Protests. Trade unions in education say they will stage a protest in front of the government building in Bucharest on Wednesday. They are dissatisfied with the measures adopted by the government, which, they say “affect the salaries, working conditions, status and dignity of the teaching profession”. Approximately 2,000 people are expected to take part in the protest. The beginning of the school year was also marked by protests from teachers, dissatisfied with the changes included in the package of measures to reduce the budget deficit. The former Minister of Education, Daniel David, resigned on December 23, with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan taking over as interim.

Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday urged Ukraine’s supporters in Kyiv to search their stockpiles of weapons and ammunition and offer Ukraine everything they can, including air defence, especially Patriot missiles, after Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was hit by a new massive barrage of Russian missiles and drones, France Presse reports. “Ukraine is and will remain essential to our security, and our commitment to supporting Ukraine is steadfast”, said Mark Rutte. France Presse also reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will travel to Ukraine to mark four years since the start of Russia’s war against its neighbouring country. “It will be a renewed and reiterated sign of the solidarity of the European Union with Ukraine and of our determination and unity in the face of Russia’s continued aggression”, said European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho. (CM)