July 22, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 22.07.2025, 20:00

MEASURES The Romanian PM Ilie Bolojan and the deputy PM in charge of reforms, Dragoș Anastasiu, presented on Tuesday in Bucharest the measures proposed by the government for the reform of state-owned companies, which will be included in the second set of fiscal measures prepared these days by the Cabinet. Measures include salary cuts and the downsizing of management structures. The legislation will also be modified, after consultations with the European Commission and the OECD, and all data on state-owned companies must be made public. Meanwhile, the increase in VAT and other taxes and excises, the scrapping of some bonuses and a cap on public pensions and salaries will take effect on August 1. The Constitutional Court of Romania rejected a complaint lodged by AUR party, through which the opposition tried to block the first set of fiscal measures, according to sources close to the CCR, quoted by Radio Romania. The measures were challenged at the Constitutional Court after Parliament dismissed a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition parties (AUR, SOS and POT). The three parties claim, among other things, that the government abused the relevant procedure and rushed through Parliament a set of measures that severely affect millions of Romanians. The PM replied that the alternative would have been much worse, and that these measures kept Romania’s rating from being downgraded to the “junk” category, not recommended for investment.

DEFICIT Romania continues to have the highest budget deficit in the EU, but the indicator was down in the first 3 months of the year compared with the last quarter of 2024. The data show that in Q1 2025 Romania had a deficit of 7.5% of GDP, a noticeable decrease from the last quarter of 2024, when it had reached 9.6%. The downward trend in Romania’s deficit is steeper than that in the EU, with the EU average down only 0.4%. After Romania, France continues to have the biggest budget deficit. In terms of the government debt to GDP ratio, the EU trend is up from 81% in the last quarter of 2024 to 81.8% in the first quarter of 2025. Romania is also on the rise, from 54.8% to 55.8%.

MOLDOVA “The most powerful tool against the hybrid war waged by Russia is to make it clear that prosperity and peace are our common goals, the goals of our EU membership and of the European path of the Republic of Moldova,” the Romanian foreign minister Oana Ţoiu said while on a visit to Chisinau on Tuesday. She described Russia’s hybrid war not as a regional one, but as extended to the entire European continent. The Romanian official met with president Maia Sandu, PM Dorin Recean, the Parliament speaker Igor Grosu, and the foreign minister Mihai Popşoi. Romania trusts the European direction and supports Moldova along its path, Oana Toiu emphasised. In turn, Maia Sandu thanked for Romania’s constant and firm support both in the European integration process and in economic development and the consolidation of democratic institutions. The talks in Chisinau also focused on bilateral cooperation in key areas, such as infrastructure and energy. This is the new foreign minister’s first official visit to Chisinau, and is in fact a continuation of the talks on Moldova’s EU accession held last week in Brussels by the two countries’ foreign ministers. The visit takes place in a very important context, as Moscow steps up its propaganda ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled in Moldova this September and the hostile cyber activities carried out throughout Europe by entities subordinate to Russia’s Military Intelligence Service, and follows a ban on entry into Romania against the mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban. This last measure was taken for reasons related to national security, the Romanian foreign ministry explains.

ANTI-CORRUPTION The president of the National Consumer Protection Authority, Cristian Popescu Piedone, was heard on Tuesday at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Romania over suspicions of having warned a business that he was about to inspect. Prosecutors raided a seaside resort where he was staying and brought him back to Bucharest for house searches. Concurrently, the investigators also inspected the company in question and the head office of the Consumer Protection Authority. (AMP)