January 16, 2026
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 16.01.2026, 13:55
Deficit. Romania significantly reduced its budget deficit last year and experienced slight economic growth, President Nicuşor Dan said on Thursday. Painful measures were taken, but they yielded the expected results, the head of state said at the annual meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest, to whom he conveyed that Bucharest’s main goal for this year and for 2027 is economic recovery. Externally, Romania will maintain the same policy based on the triad of the European Union, NATO, and the Strategic Partnership with the United States.
SAFE. “The European Commission’s decision to approve Romania’s application for funding through the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) instrument, which will provide us with over €16 billion, is very good news. This money is for essential security acquisitions, projects, and investments that Romania was already considering and would have financed on its own at much higher costs,” President Nicusor Dan wrote on social media. The head of state mentioned that Bucharest is receiving the second largest amount allocated to an EU member state, representing a strategic opportunity to accelerate the investments needed to revitalize the national defense industry. The Bucharest government also welcomed the European Commission’s approval of Romania’s application for funding through the SAFE Program. The Commission will finalize the loan agreements, with the first payments to be made in March 2026. More on this after the news.
Magistrates. Romania’s Constitutional Court has today postponed until February 11 deliberations on the government’s new bill on the reform of magistrates’ pension system in order to give judges time, reads a statement issued by Romania’s Constitutional Court, “to better study the issues at stake in the case, as well as the documents submitted by the High Court.” This concerns an accounting report which, according to the Supreme Court, would prove that the government’s bill would in fact cancel magistrates’ public service pensions, which would be lower than those based on contributions. The High Court of Cassation and Justice says that under these circumstances, it would no longer be a reform of special pensions, but a confiscation of magistrates’ rights. There have been several postponements in this case, the last two due to lack of quorum. Also today, the Bucharest Court of Appeal is resuming the unprecedented trial in which the mandates of two members of the CCR were challenged. The ruling is considered important, both in terms of the composition of the Constitutional Court and the decision on the draft law on magistrates’ pensions.
Salaries. The average gross salary in Romania increased by 2.4% to 9,371 lei in November 2025 compared to October, while the net value of wages increased by 2.2% to 5,615 lei, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) published today. According to official statistics, in November 2025, in most economic sectors, the average net wage increased compared to the previous month, as a result of occasional bonuses (quarterly, annual, winter holiday, special performance, or 13th salary bonuses), benefits in kind and financial aid, amounts from net profits and other funds (including vouchers). The increases in average net wages were also due to higher production or revenues, depending on contracts or projects. (1 euro = approximately 5 lei / ed.)
Iran. Given the security situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the increased risk of escalation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest (MAE) informs Romanian citizens that it has raised the travel warning level for this country to the maximum level 9/9. The MAE strongly recommends that Romanian citizens in Iran leave the country immediately, using any safe route available. At the same time, the institution emphasizes that Romanian citizens who have already planned trips to Iran in the near future are strongly advised to cancel them. The ministry also strongly recommends that Romanian citizens in Iran report their presence to the Romanian Embassy in Tehran, at the mission’s emergency telephone number: +98 21 77647570. Currently, the telephone number only works via GSM calls, as it is impossible to call it using messaging apps due to the lack of internet access. If Romanian citizens have trouble getting in touch with the diplomatic mission, they can call +98 21 77539041 instead, and their calls will be redirected to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad and answered by call center operators 24/7. (MI)
