June 12, 2026 UPDATE

A roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 12.06.2026, 20:00

SAFE Romania’s president Nicușor Dan Friday signed into law an emergency order on the “Security Action for Europe” instrument (SAFE), an EU mechanism aimed at strengthening the defence industry and financing investments in the field. The law aims to create “a clear, coherent and functional institutional framework” enabling Romania to spend the EU funds granted through this instrument and to carry out procurement under the Investment Plan for the European defence industry for 2026. The Constitutional Court (CCR) rejected, on June 4, a complaint against the bill, tabled by 53 opposition, unaffiliated and independent Deputies. SAFE is a European instrument under which the EU provides loans of up to EUR 150 billion to member states for quick investments in defence, through joint procurement. According to the European Commission, Romania was earmarked EUR 16.68 billion under the scheme.

GOVERNMENT The interim government in Bucharest Friday approved several measures concerning public services and support for people in difficulty. These include increases in salary expenditure for local entities that have not reported losses, granted from their own budgets rather than from the state budget, as well as emergency aid for families at risk. The Bolojan Cabinet, dismissed in May following a no-confidence vote in Parliament, does not have the constitutional right to issue orders or to draft bills. The only pieces of legislation that can be passed concern the spending of funds under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and aspects related to the EU SAFE programme. Meanwhile, PM designate Eugen Tomac is determined to move forward with forming his technocratic government and remains optimistic about next week’s parliamentary vote, despite the Liberals declining support for his cabinet. The interim PM Ilie Bolojan, the leader of the National Liberal Party, says a technocratic government has no chance of survival. The Social Democratic Party makes its vote conditional on the repeal of austerity measures, while Save Romania Union decided not to support Tomac’s cabinet. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania is expected to make an official decision early next week, but the party’s leaders have already stated that they do not believe in a technocratic cabinet.

INFLATION The annual inflation rate in Romania rose to 10.85% in May, from 10.71% in April. Service prices rose by over 13.5%, non-food prices by around 12.5%, and foodstuff prices by almost 7%, according to data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute. The National Bank of Romania expects an inflation rate of 5.5% for the end of 2026 and 2.9% at the end of 2027. The World Bank has revised downwards its forecasts for the growth of the Romanian economy, which is expected to see zero growth this year, compared to a 1.3% rate forecast in January. According to the institution’s latest report, made public on Thursday, Romania’s GDP growth is expected to reach 1.7% next year and 2% in 2028. Since January, forecasts have worsened in Romania, Turkey, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, mainly driven by the commodity price shock, the report shows.

VIOLENCE All Romanian citizens who reported being victims of violent incidents amid the recent protests in Belfast, Northern Ireland, are safe. According to the Romanian foreign ministry, they received support from local police or relatives and friends and were temporarily relocated. The ministry received 11 requests for consular assistance concerning 41 Romanian nationals, including 17 children, and one EU citizen, a family member of a Romanian national. The homes of several Romanian families were vandalised during the violence in Belfast, amid anti-immigration protests in the wake of a knife attack committed by a Sudanese refugee on a local resident. The foreign ministry says it will continue to carefully follow the developments in Northern Ireland, and the diplomatic missions and consular offices involved are ready to provide consular assistance. At the same time, the ministry urges the Romanian citizens in Northern Ireland to follow the instructions of the local police and to avoid traveling to areas where protests are taking place.. (AMP)