February 4, 2025 UPDATE 2
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 04.02.2025, 20:00
BUDGET In Bucharest, the draft law on the 2025 state budget and social security budget were discussed in Parliament’s specialist committees on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will meet in a plenary session to review the two bills, and the final vote is scheduled for Thursday. The discussions and the vote in Parliament are predictable, as the MPs of the ruling coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) have a majority. The draft budget for this year, based on a 2.5% economic growth rate and a budget deficit of 7% of GDP, was passed by the Cabinet on Saturday. ‘It is a restrained budget, based on a prudent forecast. It is a balanced budget, and in addition to investments, we have enough funds to pay salaries and pensions,’ the finance minister Tanczos Barna said.
ECONOMY Romania is ‘a politically and economically stable and safe country,’ oriented towards investment and reform, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Tuesday at a meeting with World Bank officials in Bucharest. ‘Our country is a regional pillar of security and economic stability for Europe and for the Strategic Partnership with the US,’ the PM added. According to a news release issued by the government, Bucharest sees the WB as a partner for its goals and continues to rely on the funding and know-how provided by the group. During the meeting, the participants reviewed jointly-developed projects in the fields of healthcare and emergency management. The World Bank officials welcomed the Government’s reform plan and the attention paid to investments, noting that Romania is a strong and resilient partner. I am confident that together we will continue to implement the ongoing projects and expand the portfolio with new investments in energy, green transition, infrastructure and other areas with growth potential, WB executive director Eugene Rhuggenaath said. The institution’s representatives also appreciated the support offered by Romania to the neighboring Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as its contribution to ensuring stability in the region.
MEETING At a meeting on Tuesday with the European Commission executive vice-president in charge of social rights and skills, quality jobs and training, Roxana Mînzatu, President Klaus Iohannis emphasised the critical role of education in fighting disinformation and manipulation, as well as in strengthening the democratic resilience of European societies. According to a news release issued by the Presidency, the topics on the agenda included the social dimension of European Union policies, ways to increase the EU’s global competitiveness, the Union’s strategy with respect to preparedness and resilience in the face of challenges, EU approaches to education and the involvement of the Romanian education system in the European context. In turn, the EC executive vice-president presented the main priorities of the new Commission, including in the areas of employment, social rights and EU-funded educational programs in Romania, as well as preparedness for crisis situations. On Monday and Tuesday in Bucharest Roxana Mînzatu also had talks with PM Marcel Ciolacu, with the Senate Speaker Ilie Bolojan, and with the Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Ciprian Şerban, about key EU and national priorities, with an emphasis on education, the labor market, social cohesion and the management of European funds.
CHURCH The Romanian Orthodox Church (the majority denomination in Romania) Tuesday celebrated 100 years since its promotion to the rank of Patriarchate. According to Patriarch Daniel, this anniversary is not only a celebration of the past, but also a call to gratitude towards our ancestors and a reflection on the role of our Church in the life of the Romanian people. The Romanian Patriarchate was, throughout its 100-year existence, an unquenchable torch of faith and national unity, he said. In turn, president Klaus Iohannis said the centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate is a moment of historic importance for the entire Romanian Orthodox Church and for believers in the country and in Romanian communities abroad. According to experts, Specialists recall that the Romanian Patriarchate was born on February 4, 1925, in a historical context marked by the Great Union of 1918, which brought together all the historical Romanian provinces in a one nation state.
MOLDOVA The European Union Tuesday allocated a new EUR 250 mln financial envelope to support the Republic of Moldova in 2025 in the face of Moscow’s ‘energy blackmail,’ after the halt in Russian gas supplies to the breakaway region of Transnistria, AFP reports. ‘Today we are taking an essential step to (…) help the Republic of Moldova regain control over its energy destiny,’ the EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, who is on an official visit to Chisinau, posted on a social network. In turn, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denounced Moscow’s use of ‘energy to blackmail people’, promising to offer the former Soviet republic ‘full integration into the EU energy market, decoupling it from Russia ‘. After the war started in neighboring Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova says a ‘hybrid war’ is orchestrated by Russia, including the energy crisis, disinformation and electoral interference. Chisinau is facing a suspension of Gazprom supplies to Transnistria via Ukraine, after a transit agreement between Kiyv and Moscow came to an end. (AMP)
