June 19, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 19.06.2025, 19:50

Talks. President Nicuşor Dan hosted talks in Bucharest with the parliamentary parties and groups with a view to nominating a prime minister. The nomination is necessary in order to finalise negotiations between the four pro-European parties, namely the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, that are involved in the talks to form a new government, said the leader of the ethnic Hungarian party, Kelemen Hunor, after the meeting. The first party to be hosted by Nicuşor Dan was the Social Democratic Party, which made three proposals: cutting budget spending, prioritising investment and finding ways to bring additional revenues to the budget. The talks with the Liberals’ delegation lasted more than was initially scheduled, with the Liberal leaders making no statements at the end. After the consultations, the Save Romania Union said it was ready to enter government in order to make Romania a powerfuil country. Following talks with the president, the Young People’s Party said it would vote in favour of the government if the latter does not raise taxes, guarantees that state institutions are fair to all tax payers and reduces budget spending. The opposition parties the Alliance for the Union of Romanians and SOS Romania refused to attend the talks. President Nicuşor Dan ended the series of talks with a meeting with the representatives of the group of ethnic minorities in Parliament.

Exercise. NATO allies and partners are conducting the 25^th Sea Breeze maritime exercise in Brăila, in the south-east, until the 20^th of June. This involves sea, air and land command and control operations, as well as security operations, with an emphasis on mine countermeasure and dive operations, the US embassy in Bucharest said in a statement. The multinational exercise is run by the US Sixth Fleet and aims to increase interoperability between the participating forces. Sea Breeze is hosted by the Romanian Armed Forces at the Smârdan training area and ends with an exercise that simulates an amphibious raid in the Black Sea region. According to the US embassy, such exercises improve communication and cooperation between the United States and Romania, preparing allied forces to respond to potential threats.

Femicide. President Nicuşor Dan called on the relevant authorities to treat each case of domestic violence with utmost seriousness, noting that he will work together with the future Government to build a package of concrete measures that will ensure real protection for victims and the prevention of gender violence, Agerpres reports. “Romania is facing a worrying level of violence against women. In the first six months of this year alone, 26 women have lost their lives, most of them as a result of attacks committed by former or current partners. Last year, over 130,000 cases of domestic violence were reported. The pain and outrage felt by society are fully justified. I strongly condemn any form of violence against women and reaffirm that it cannot be tolerated, ignored or treated superficially”, Nicuşor Dan wrote on social media. He also conveyed his full solidarity with the participants in a protest organised on Wednesday evening in front of the government headquarters.

Resolution. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution whereby EU Member States will be granted an additional 18 months to complete projects funded under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism that have already been started. The document was drafted by the Romanian MEPs Siegfried Mureşan and Victor Negrescu and must now receive the endorsement of the European Commission. The MEPs also propose to the Commission that the funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan be moved to other European financing mechanisms so that investments can continue, as well as the development of more cross-border projects between European countries.

Middle East. Iran on Thursday launched a number of rockets against Irsael, said the Israeli army, adding that the defence systems are working to intercept the threat, the CNN said. The sirens were sounded in Haifa, in the north of the country, and the surroundings. On Wednesday night, Israel and Iran traded air strikes. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to travel on Friday to Geneva, in Switzerland, to meet his European counterparts with a view to talks. A diplomat told the CNN that the talks are exploratory, to test the ground.

Handball. Romania have advanced to the main groups of the Men’s Under-21 Handball World Championship hosted by Poland as they defeated North Macedonia 28-27 in Katowice, in a Group F match. Romania will next face the Faroe Islands on 21^st June. The last time Romania took part in this competition was in 2005, when they finished in 8^th place. (CM)