March 11, 2026

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.03.2026, 13:55

Budget. The Romanian finance ministry published the draft budget for 2026 on Tuesday. The document expects an economic growth rate of 1%, an average annual inflation of 6.5%, a budget deficit of 6.2% and a GDP that would for the first time exceed 2,000 billion lei (approximately 392.5 billion euros). There will be no more bonuses or paid overtime in the public sector, and pensions will not go up this year, either. However, money for the development of local communities has been supplemented, now reaching 164 billion lei (over 32 billion euros), 25 billion lei (4.9 billion euros) more than last year. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said he wanted the budget bill to be approved in Thursday’s government meeting, so that it may reach Parliament at the end of the week. It is not certain, however, whether the bill will have the support of the Social Democratic Party in Parliament, given the Social Democrats’ dissatisfaction with the level of amounts granted to local town halls and the lack of financial support packages for vulnerable categories.

Defence council. The president of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, called a meeting of the National Supreme Defence Council this morning. According to the president’s office, talks focused on the situation in the Middle East and its implications for Romania and the domestic oil market, as well as an assessment of the temporary deployment of military capabilities on national territory. Information has circulated online regarding the possible arrival of American military aircraft and detachments at the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base in Constanţa County (southeast). The media notes that, on March 5, president Dan said he would not call for a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on the situation in the Middle East as long as the events do not pose an “immediate danger” for Romania. The last meeting of the Council took place on November 24, last year to discuss the country’s defence strategy.

Repatriation. Foreign minister Oana Ţoiu (from the Save Romania Union), is to appear today before the Foreign Policy Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to give explanations regarding the repatriation of Romanians from the areas affected by the war in the Middle East. The Committee Chairman, Hajdu Gabor (from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, in co-government), said yesterday that he is following ”with concern” the situation of Romanians stranded in the region. The Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee, Cosmin Corendea, from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, in opposition, also said he was waiting for what he called “common sense explanations” about the criteria used by the foreign ministry to repatriate Romanian nationals from the Middle East. On Monday, Sorin Grindeanu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, in the ruling coalition asked the Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan to send the Control Body to the Foreign Ministry to verify the situation related to the transport of Romanians from the conflict area.

Zelensky visit. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Bucharest on Thursday at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart, Nicuşor Dan. The information was confirmed by political sources for Radio Romania. This will be Zelensky’s second trip to neighbouring Romania since the Russian invasion four years ago, after October 2023. In addition to the talks between the two presidents, the agenda of the visit also includes a meeting between Zelensky and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. The two countries share a border of about 700 kilometers, and since February 2022, Romania has received millions of Ukrainian refugees, especially women and children. 200,000 Ukrainians were in Romania at the end of last year, according to official data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots are training in Romania, and this country also donated a Patriot air defence system to Ukraine.

EU. Europe’s first responsibility is to protect our citizens and prepare for the impacts of the conflict in the Middle East, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She gave assurances that the European Union will always defend the principles of the United Nations and international law, acting as a protector of peace. She added that Europe’s return to fossil fuels exported by Russia, to try to compensate for the increase in energy prices, would be a mistake. She said Brussels is preparing options to lower energy prices, including measures regarding state aid, subsidies and gas price caps. (CM)