March 31, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 31.03.2025, 20:17
MOTION The Senate in Bucharest has rejected the simple motion tabled against Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, by the senators of the opposition parties, AUR, SOS Romania and POT. The signatories believe Burduja cannot ensure the stability of the energy system and ignores the issues in the field. They have also blamed the minister for having arbitrarily allotted public funds to private companies without competitive procedures, the defective management of European and national funds or the high energy prices. Burduja has rejected all allegations pointing out that for the first time in the past 17 years, Romania has had a national energy strategy and its energy is presently safe, cheap and clean. In another development, on Wednesday, the MPs are going to vote on the simple motion against Interior Minister, Catalin Predoiu. The AUR representatives have called for his resignation as they believe that through his actions, he would have turned the Romanian police into a political police, which no longer protect the citizens but intimidate and silence them. Minister Predoiu has pledged to respond to the accusations with arguments.
DRILL The Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa on Monday saw the beginning of “Sea Shield 25,” the largest multi-national training exercise organised this year by the Romanian Navy. Roughly 2,300 Romanian and foreign military personnel from 11 states are taking part in the drills, which also involve 33 ships, 9 fast boats, 14 aircraft and 90 vehicles. “Sea Shield 25” primarily aims to enhance the interoperability of the naval forces of allied and partner countries. Until April 11, combat sequences will be carried out in all action environments: sea, river, lagoon, underwater, land and air. The coordination and response capacities of the participating forces in highly complex scenarios will be tested and improved.
RULING The French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, has been banned from running for the presidential election in 2027 and for any other public office for five years – this is a court ruling in the embezzlement case against her and 24 other codefendants who were accused of illicitly siphoning European Parliament funds to pay for party employees who seldom or never dealt with affairs in Brussels or Strasbourg. According to the court’s estimates, the accused had over 12 years embezzled more than 4 million Euros. Le Pen Pen, who denied any wrongdoing, has also got a 100 thousand Euro fine and a four-year prison sentence, two of which were suspended and two to be served under house arrest.
EU The European Parliament convened in Strasbourg on Tuesday for a new plenary session. The topics that MEPs are going to discuss until April 3 include the EU’s foreign and security policies for this year and plans to improve safety and preparedness. They will vote on two draft reports calling on the European Union to invest more in its defence sector and to increase its military and political support for Ukraine. MEPs will also discuss new steps against drug trafficking, as well as a new agenda to fight terrorism. On Tuesday, they will vote on a new Romanian member of the European Court of Auditors. Lucian Romaşcanu, nominated by the Romanian government, is expected to take office on July 1.
SCHENGEN Structures of the Interior Ministry have carried out 39 hundred missions on Romania’s 17 international airports since the country’s Schengen accession with its air borders on March 31 2024. According to a balance sheet presented on Monday, the aforementioned structures have discovered over 100 forged documents or documents used by other persons than their legal owners. 150 illegal residents have also been discovered. Romania, a fully-fledged member of Europe’s border-free area since early this year, is going to be assessed in Schengen in autumn.
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