March 23, 2025 UPDATE 2

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Newsroom, 23.03.2025, 19:21

Price cap – The emergency ordinance on the extension of the energy price cap scheme will enter the debate of the Romanian Senate on Monday, as the first chamber notified. The document drafted by the Government provides for the extension of the price cap for natural gas until March 31, 2026, and for electricity until the end of June this year. Also in the Senate, discussions will begin on the bill on the protection of people who buy apartments under construction, drafted to avoid cases of real estate fraud such as the one in which the former head of the Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Vicol (PSD, in the governing coalition), was involved. On the other hand, on Tuesday, Parliament will meet in a joint plenary session to amend the statute of senators and deputies, so that unexcused absences of elected officials will be sanctioned with the withholding of 5% of the gross monthly allowance, currently the sanction being only 1%. The decision comes after representatives of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and the Party of Young People (POT) (the nationalist opposition) went on a parliamentary strike, but nevertheless signed the attendance agreement to continue being paid.

Visa – The Romanian authorities insist that they have not received any official information from Washington regarding a possible postponement of the date on which Romania will effectively enter the Visa Waiver Program. Romania was included at the beginning of the year on the list of countries whose citizens will no longer need a visa to travel to the United States, starting with the end of this month. The Romanian Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, says that the Romanian authorities are technically prepared and that there is permanent communication with the American side. Radio Romania’s correspondent in the United States notes that there would be objective conditions for a possible delay, given the restructuring and massive staff cuts decided by the Republican administration, led by President Donald Trump, within the federal government, including among employees of the Department of Homeland Security, which has the mission to apply Romania’s accession to the program.

Meeting – Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, will participate, next week, on Thursday, in the meeting of the heads of state and government of the countries that decided to take part in the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ on the security of neighboring Ukraine, invaded by the Russian troops, the presidential administration informed on Sunday. The meeting will take place in Paris, after, two weeks ago, the British Prime Minister Keir Sturmer convened an online discussion on the same subject. Ilie Bolojan then emphasized Romania’s commitment to continuing to support Ukraine and to the efforts to ensure a lasting and fair peace. An unconditional ceasefire is a first step towards this goal, and Ukraine must agree to it, the interim president said in a post on the X platform.

Baccalaureate – About 123,000 Romanian students in their final year of high school will begin the simulation of the written baccalaureate exams with the Romanian language exam on Monday. The mandatory profile exam is scheduled for Tuesday, students having to choose between mathematics and history, and on Wednesday they will take the exam of their choice. On Thursday, only students who attended high school in a national minority language will take the language and literature exam in their mother tongue. The evaluation of the papers will be done digitally. The grades will be announced individually on April 8 and will not be recorded in the classbook.

Election – The first three positions on the ballots for the first round of the presidential election due on May 4 in Romania will be occupied, in order, by the leader of the opposition nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, the former liberal leader Crin Antonescu, supported by the governing coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR), and the leader of the opposition Save Romania Party (USR) Elena Lasconi. The order of registration was established by the Central Electoral Bureau, by drawing of lots. On positions 4 to 11 will be, in order, Cristian Terheş, Lavinia Şandru, the former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Sebastian Constantin Popescu, Silviu Predoiu, John Ion Banu Muscel, the former minister Daniel Funeriu and the General Mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan. The election campaign will start on April 4.