July 18, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 18.07.2025, 19:06
Visit. Romanian President Nicuşor Dan announced in Berlin that the Romanian and German foreign ministers have signed an action plan aimed at common security and economic policies. The document refers to cooperation in the areas of armament, education, culture, and media, as well as the promotion of investment, given that Germany is Romania’s main trading partner and trade between the two countries amounted to €42 billion last year. He also said that advanced negotiations are currently underway between German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and the Romarm factory in Mediaş for a joint venture to produce ammunition. In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Dan added that Bucharest is exploring partnerships it could have with other European Union countries. Nicuşor Dan is on a formal visit to the Federal Republic of Germany. The Romanian president is accompanied by, among others, Deputy Prime Minister Dragoş Anastasiu, Defense Minister Ionuţ Moşteanu, Foreign Minister Oana Ţoiu, and Economy Minister Radu Miruţă. Prior to the meeting with the German chancellor, the Romanian president was received by his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The agenda for the visit also includes participation in a meeting with German businesspeople and a meeting with representatives of the Romanian community.
Measures. Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has announced a second package of measures to reduce the budget deficit, which includes reforming local public administration. Bolojan has said that the government will cap the number of employees in city halls and county councils on a case-by-case basis, depending on the number of inhabitants or administrative units. A second measure is to limit the number of local police officers so that the public order system is better organised and unnecessary expenses are avoided. In addition, government funds will be allocated according to efficiency, and the number of local and central government offices will be reduced, the prime minister announced. He pointed out that the Executive is having difficulty financing all projects carried out with funds from the state budget, so this year only projects in the ‘Anghel Saligny’ Programme that are at an advanced stage of implementation will be financed. This programme aims to modernise local communities by investing in local transport, energy, water and sewerage infrastructure. Ilie Bolojan has also announced that the government apparatus will be reduced by 40%.
Cybersecurity. NATO and the European Union strongly condemn the cyber-attacks carried out by Russia’s military intelligence service against several member states of the two organizations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest stated on Friday. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the attacks targeted public institutions, critical infrastructure operators, and other entities within the Alliance and the European Union, including Romania. Intensified against the backdrop of Russian aggression in Ukraine, these actions are part of Russia’s much broader hybrid campaigns aimed at undermining stability and democracy in the targeted countries and organizations, as well as discouraging support for Kyiv. The Bucharest diplomacy calls on the Russian Federation to comply with its international obligations and declares its solidarity with other allies, EU members, and partners affected by these hostile cyber activities.
Russia. The EU on Friday tightened its sanctions against Moscow, mainly targeting Russian oil, in the hope that the US will soon join the move, AFP reports. This 18th set of sanctions since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is one of the most severe against Russia to date, the EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said. The decision is essential and comes at a good time, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on the social network X. The French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot voiced satisfaction with the unprecedented sanctions, while the German chancellor Friedrich Merz promised the bloc will maintain pressure on Russia. The sanctions include, among other things, a reduction in the price ceiling for Russian crude oil exports, currently set at just over USD 45 a barrel, 15% below the average market price. The mechanism prohibits any oil company or commercial fleet from selling Russian oil above a certain price, under the penalty of sanctions. The EU has banned all imports of Russian oil into its territory, but Moscow continues to export crude to other countries, including India and China, AFP explains.
Anti-semmitism. The head of the ‘Elie Wiesel’ Institute, Florian Alexandru, believes that the Constitutional Court’s ruling declaring the new law on combating anti-Semitism constitutional was predictable, and said that a different ruling could have further complicated the issue. On Thursday the Constitutional Court dismissed as unfounded a complaint lodged by president Nicuşor Dan against new legislation on measures to fight anti-Semitism and xenophobia, which bans organisations, symbols and acts of a fascist, extreme right, racist or xenophobic nature. The president highlighted, among other things, what he viewed as lack of clarity in defining the term “fascist.” The Court found that ‘the law subject to constitutional review is clear, precise and predictable with respect to the content of the regulation, which it relates to the legitimate subject matter and purpose of the law, which is to use criminal law to protect the most important social values of a democratic society, based on the need to ensure the dignity of human beings and full respect for fundamental rights and freedoms’. The Court held that Nazi and fascist ideology are historical and political concepts that cannot be relativized by legal definitions, as they reflect historical social realities that have underpinned criminal political regimes which have physically eliminated groups of people, practicing systemic violence, political assassinations and anti-Semitism. By their purpose, these totalitarian political regimes have violated the principles of the rule of law, human rights and democracy, the Court also found.
EU budget. The European Commission presented on Friday the funding allotted for the member states in the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, after a budget of EUR 2,000 billion was proposed on Wednesday for that period, according to a statement from the Commission. Under the proposal, Romania is to receive a total EUR 60.2 billion, of which a general allocation of EUR 54.6 billion, EUR 1 billion for migration, security and home affairs, and EUR 4.6 billion for the Social Climate Fund. Of the total allocations, the highest amounts will go to Poland, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Football. The winner of the Romanian Football Cup CFR Cluj moved up into the second qualifying round of the Europa League, after defeating on Thursday on home turf the Hungarian side Paksi FC, 3-0, in the second leg of the first round. The first leg had ended in a goalless draw. In the next round the Cluj team will take on Lugano, of Switzerland. Meanwhile the Romanian champions FCSB qualified for the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, to play against KF Shkendija, the champions of North Macedonia. Universitatea Craiova and Universitatea Cluj will play in the Conference League.
