June 29, 2025
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 29.06.2025, 13:55
CSAT – The President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, has called a meeting of the Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT) for Monday, the Romanian Presidential Administration announced. According to the source, the agenda includes topics related to the stage and prospects of the conflict in Ukraine following the illegal and unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation; implications for Romania; Romania’s armed forces and means that can be made available for participation in missions and operations outside the territory of the Romanian state in 2026; information on the phenomenon of tax evasion, as a threat and risk to national security; information on the situation created as a result of the flooding of the Praid Salt Mine; implications for the community and the environment; the activity carried out by the National Cyber Security Directorate in 2024 and the main objectives for 2025. During the Council meeting, other current issues in the field of national security will also be analyzed, the Presidential Administration specified.
Measures – Next week the Romanian government will announce a package of measures to reduce the budget deficit and improve access to European funds. The government had intended to make this announcement on Friday, but, in the absence of an opinion from the Economic and Social Council, the announcement was postponed. The authorities are considering important fiscal decisions, such as the re-setting of the VAT, the elimination of bonuses in the state sector and the increase in excise duties. The Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan says that Romania is in a difficult financial situation, after having spent excessively in recent years. The decrease in expenses will be done by reducing the number of members of the committees that manage state companies and whose allowances will be reduced, by granting bonuses only based on performance and by reconfiguring the school scholarship system. The increase in revenues will be done by improving collection, by combating tax evasion and eliminating exceptions, as well as through a package of fiscal measures. The government will also focus on increasing the absorption of European funds, especially from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and this also means prioritizing investments, the Prime Minister Bolojan also said.
Banks – The number of members of the Inter-ministerial Committee that coordinates the activity of Exim – Banca Românească was reduced, by government decision, from 17 to 5, and their allowances were reduced from 21,000 lei to 5,000 lei (the equivalent of about one thousand Euros). The announcement was made by the Finance Minister, Alexandru Nazare, who specified that it is the first committee of this type in which such measures are applied. Administrative reform begins with the example set at the top institutions, Nazare stated. Exim – Banca Românească is in the top 10 largest banks, according to the assets criterion. The main shareholder of the bank is the Romanian state, through the Finance Ministry.
Celebration – Almost 500 thousand (492,108) Romanians are celebrating their name day on Sunday, the day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, according to data provided by the General Directorate for the Registration of Persons within the Interior Ministry. This includes 354,775 men and 137,333 women. The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul are celebrated together by the Church on June 29. Saint Peter was one of the twelve apostles who accompanied Jesus Christ. In addition to the eight speeches preserved in the Acts of the Apostles, two epistles bearing his name have survived from Saint Peter. According to theologians, Saint Apostle Paul remains unequalled among those who have undertaken the task of preaching Christian teaching, his theological thinking arising from experience, from living, more than from a rational discourse. His 14 Epistles are included in the canon of the New Testament.
Theater – The Sibiu International Theatre Festival (central Romania) comes to an end today. The streets of the city center will be animated for the last time at this edition by parades, acrobats, dancers and fire shows. A concert and a multimedia show with drones, lights and music are scheduled for the evening. On Friday, seven new stars were added to the Walk of Fame. Among the personalities who received this distinction were American actors Kathleen Turner and Bill Murray, as well as, posthumously, the French playwright of Romanian origin Eugene Ionesco, considered a master of the theater of the absurd. (LS)
