June 29, 2025 UPDATE 2

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Newsroom, 29.06.2025, 20:13

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.

Rowing – The Romanian rowers won six medals on Sunday at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland: three gold, two silver and one bronze. In the women’s pair, Simona Radiş and Magdalena Rusu won with a time of 06:59:04/100, followed by the Czech Republic more than five seconds later (07:05.35). Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci won the men’s pair, in 06:17:57/100, with a lead of more than two seconds over New Zealand (06:20.14). The women’s eight-plus-one crew (Cristina Drugă, Roxana Anghel, Iulia Bălăucă, Geanina Juncănariu, Ancuţa Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş, Victoria Petreanu) won the gold in 06:02:92/100, followed by the United States (06:04.73). In the men’s four, Ştefan Berariu, Sergiu Bejan, Andrei Mândrilă, Ciprian Tudosă won the silver (05:47.74), being overtaken by Australia (05:47.03). In the women’s quadruple scull, Romania (Iuliana Buhuş, Emanuela Ciotău, Alexandra Ungureanu, Patricia Cireş) won the silver medals (06:22.74), overtaken by Germany (06:19.29). The men’s eight-plus-one crew (Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Laurenţiu Danciu, Bogdan Băitoc, Claudiu Neamţu, Alexandru Ciobîcă, Mugurel Semciuc, Constantin Adam, Leontin Nuţescu, Adrian Munteanu) won the bronze (05:28.52), Germany ranked first (05:25.86), and Australia took second place (05:27.31).

Mistral – Romania is participating in the European Joint Procurement Initiative for the Mistral 3 systems, along with eight other European states, the details of the program being under evaluation together with the French side, the Romanian Defense Ministry (MApN) reported on Sunday. The source states that the purchase of the Man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD) was approved in 2022, with an estimated value of approximately 700 million Euros, excluding VAT. “The MANPAD program represents a strategic investment in Romania’s security, contributing to the consolidation of common European defense. It can benefit from partial non-reimbursable financing through the European Defense Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA), which means that part of the costs can be covered by the European Union” the ministry shows. It states that ‚it will use all the instruments available at the European Union level to reduce the costs of procurement, and an important option in this process is the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument by strengthening the European defense industry’. The French Embassy in Bucharest previously informed that in the field of air defense there are two distinct projects with the Romanian state. One concerns very short-range portable anti-aircraft missiles for equipping the Romanian infantry. The second project concerns short-range and very short-range anti-aircraft systems installed on vehicles.

Migrants – The Romanian police officers from the Calafat Border Police Sector (south, on the border with Bulgaria) discovered, on Sunday, after checking a truck, 13 foreign citizens who did not have a valid visa or residence permit to travel in the Schengen area. According to a statement from the Border Police General Inspectorate, they stopped a truck registered in Turkey, driven by a 34-year-old Turkish citizen, who was transporting metal parts on the Turkey-Netherlands route and in which 13 people without identity documents were discovered. These people declared that they were Syrian and Iraqi citizens. The respective persons, the driver and the means of transport were taken over by the Bulgarian authorities, in order to continue the investigations, the Inspectorate also informs. (LS)