July 25, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Elena Enache, 25.07.2025, 20:01

VISIT – Romania and Austria have everything they need to build an even stronger economic partnership, Romanian President Nicușor Dan said on Friday. He delivered a speech to businesspeople gathered at the Salzburg 2025 Summit. At the same time, Nicușor Dan highlighted that investments from Austria represent 12% of foreign investments in Romania, with a total of over 10 billion euros, since the 1990s. The president also said that Romanians and Romanian companies can have a significant contribution to the Austrian labor market. Nicușor Dan began an official two-day visit to Austria on Friday, at the invitation of his counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen. The Romanian head of state will also discuss with Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker. The Romanian president is also the guest of honor at the Salzburg Festival, a very important cultural event. The discussions that Nicusor Dan will have with the Austrian officials will also address issues related to the Romanian community in Austria, cooperation in the field of internal affairs, education and culture. There will also be discussions on current topics on the European agenda, mainly the European Commission’s proposals on the post-2027 multiannual financial framework, migration and support for the enlargement process with both the West Balkan states and the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

UNIONS – Romanian education unions sent a memorandum to President Nicuşor Dan on Friday, asking him, as a mediator between the state and society, to support Romanian education by blocking what they call the “anti-education measures” stipulated in the Law on Fiscal-Budgetary Measures. The enforcement of the normative act will seriously affect both education employees and pupils and students, according to union representatives. They cite a report by the Institute of Educational Sciences in support of their claim that the teaching norm in Romania is at the average level of the European Union and should not be increased, but also that an increase in the number of students in a class will alter teaching and lead to a decrease in results, including in international assessments. In recent days, employees in many sectors have protested against the government’s austerity measures, with unions warning that they could be forced into a general strike in September if alternative solutions to some of the reforms are not taken into account. After a first package of measures adopted by the Executive by assuming responsibility, a second one is expected to be announced next week.

OECD – Germany will support Romania in its efforts to become a member of the OECD, as it is one of the most important partner countries in Europe, but especially in this region, said on Friday in Bucharest, the German Federal Minister of the Environment, Carsten Schneider, following a bilateral meeting he had with his Romanian counterpart, Diana Buzoianu. At the same time, Carsten Schneider voiced confidence that Romania and Germany will continue to have good collaboration. In turn, Diana Buzoianu stressed that Romania and Germany have 145 years of diplomatic partnership built on solid foundations, and the bilateral discussion focused on how to reduce pollution in the Danube Delta, as well as the air quality directive, which must be transposed into the legislation of each EU member state.

DEFENSE – The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Ionuţ Moşteanu, met, on Friday, in Bucharest, with a delegation from the US Department of Defense. According to a Defense Ministry press release, the agenda of the bilateral discussions included priority topics regarding the Romania – US Strategic Partnership, cooperation within NATO and the security situation in the Black Sea region. The discussions focused on Romania’s role as a security provider on NATO’s Eastern Flank, especially in the current context generated by the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Bucharest’s active contribution to strengthening the allied deterrence and defense posture was highlighted, including by recently assuming command, for the next six months, of the Naval Mine Countermeasures Task Force – MCM Black Sea. In this context, the Romanian side reaffirmed its commitment to continue investing in defense, including by allocating 5% of GDP until 2035.

LAW – Romanian President Nicuşor Dan has promulgated the law with the fiscal-budgetary measures from the first package aimed at reducing the deficit, for which the Government took responsibility in Parliament. The Head of State estimates that the Executive will finalize the second package of measures in early August. He said that the proposal to reform magistrates’ pensions will be carefully analyzed, so as not to have problems with the constitutionality control, but also to reduce the risk of a simultaneous exit from the system of a large number of professionals. (EE)