June 18, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 18.06.2025, 20:00
GOVERNMENT – The pro-European parties in the Bucharest Parliament – PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR – continued negotiations on Wednesday, both for measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit and for the distribution of ministries in the future government. It is likely that the PNL leader, Ilie Bolojan, will be prime minister until 2027, when the post will be taken over by PSD. Bolojan will lead a government with 16 ministries. The Social Democrats are expected to hold seven, the Liberals four, USR three, and UDMR two. After the appointment of the PM, on Monday the ministers will be heard in committees, the new executive will be sworn in and will take the oath at the Presidency. The head of state, Nicuşor Dan, invited all parliamentary groups to consultations on the appointment of the prime minister on Thursday.
SALARIES – Acting Education Minister Daniel David said that at the moment there is no question of reducing teachers’ salaries or vacation leave in education and research. He pointed out that in the messages launched by education unionists, there are absolutely real things, for which they are right to fight, but also rumors and distorted interpretations. David has promised that, if he remains minister, there will be no reduction in the number of researchers, who are fewer by European standards. Unions in the Romanian education system went on a Japanese strike on Wednesday, unhappy with recent proposals on some measures to cut budget spending in the system. Their members are opposed to an increase in teaching hours to 8 hours a day, as well as a lowering of the salary threshold for holiday vouchers and food allowance. Education union leaders met on Tuesday with Education Minister Daniel David to whom they told that they reject any decrease in budgetary spending that could have repercussions on teachers’ incomes. They warned that if Wednesday’s protest is treated with indifference and the incoming government implements measures that will affect education workers, they will launch widespread protest actions, including a general strike.
INCIDENT – Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu has confirmed reports that a Romanian diplomat representing the EU was assaulted in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East, in late May during an official trip. The incident was also confirmed by a spokeswoman for the European Commission, as reported in the German publication Spiegel.de. According to her, the event has caused a stir among Western diplomats in Moscow, with the assailants allegedly officials of the Russian security authorities. Minister Hurezeanu avoided confirming FSB involvement in the incident. He said that the diplomat left the territory of the Russian Federation and is perfectly safe and in full health in Brussels.
RESOLUTION – The European Parliament passed, on Wednesday, in the plenary in Strasbourg, a resolution on the proposal to extend the funding of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to allow the completion of ongoing projects. The resolution refers to the report prepared by Romanian MEPs Siegfied Mureşan and Victor Negrescu and underlines the stabilizing effect of this instrument in the context of economic uncertainty in Europe. In the resolution, the European Parliament members voice concern about the short timeframe for implementing the outstanding funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan and urge the European Commission to establish new flexible and predictable programmes. Siegfried Mureşan also called for a review of how unspent funds can support Europe’s new strategic priorities, in particular strengthening competitiveness and defence capabilities.
REPATRIATION – Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu on Wednesday announced that 68 Romanian citizens in Iran have expressed their desire to immediately leave this country. The diplomatic mission maintains dialogue with another 30 people, the minister specified. At the same time, 119 people have requested evacuation and repatriation at the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and at the Romanian Representative Office in Ramallah. The missions have been in touch with 279 Romanian citizens who have notified their presence in that area. At the same time, 40 Romanian citizens have been repatriated from Israel to Bulgaria, via Egypt, the ministry also informs. In the context of the sharp deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East and the closure of airspace in several countries in the region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking steps to grant consular protection to Romanian citizens who have notified their presence in the area and want to return to the country.
INFLATION – The annual inflation rate in the European Union continued to go down in May to 2.2%, from 2.4% the previous month, but Romania remains the country with the highest inflation, with an annual price increase of 5.4%, according to data published on Wednesday by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat). Last month, the EU member states with the lowest annual inflation rates were Cyprus, France and Ireland. According to data recently published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), the annual inflation rate rose to 5.45% in May, from 4.9% in April. The National Bank of Romania (BNR) has revised upwards, to 4.6%, from 3.8% previously, the inflation forecast for the end of 2025. (EE)
