May 12, 2025 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 12.05.2025, 20:00
ELECTIONS In Romania, the election campaign for the second round of the presidential election has reached its final week. The campaign ends on May 17, at 7:00 a.m. local time. The decisive round has the hard-right populist George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, running against the pro-West independent Nicuşor Dan, mayor of Bucharest. On May 4, in the first round, Simion got about 41% of the votes, while Dan had 21%. Abroad, voting for the second round will take place over a three-day period, on May 16, 17 and 18, respectively, while voting in the country will only be possible on Sunday, May 18.
PARLIAMENT The Senate of Romania this week resumes talks on a bill tabled by the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania regarding the retirement of magistrates. As approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the bill has judges and prosecutors retire at the age of 65, rather than 48 at present, and it should be enforced as of next year instead of gradually by 2045, as originally stipulated in the document. The Higher Council of Magistrates criticizes the bill, claiming that it breaches the principle of judicial independence. The disbursement of EUR 230 million under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is conditional on a new law on special pensions for magistrates. On Thursday, in the first meeting chaired by the interim PM Cătălin Predoiu, the Cabinet passed a bill regarding the renegotiation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan with the European Commission. The authorities are trying to replace certain investment objectives that have not made enough progress with ones that meet the goals outlined in the Plan and that have been financed from the state budget.
GOVERNMENT Romania’s acting PM Cătălin Predoiu Monday chaired a meeting of the inter-ministry coordination committee for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). According to a news release issued by the Government, the participants analysed the elements that need to be expedited for the full disbursement of Payment Request no. 3 and for the implementation of the reforms and investments that are to be included in Payment Request no. 4, as well as aspects related to the completion of the PNRR renegotiation. So far, Romania has received EUR 9.2 bln out of the EUR 28.5 bln it has been earmarked under the scheme. This week, a government delegation led by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects will go to Brussels for technical meetings with European Commission officials.
ECONOMY Romania’s trade deficit deepened by almost 27% in the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period last year. Imports exceeded EUR 32 bln, up by about 8%, while exports rose by 6.3% compared to the corresponding month in 2024. In the first quarter, export growth was only 2.7 percent, while imports increased by over 8%, compared to January-March 2024, increasing the trade deficit by almost EUR 1.8 bln compared to the first quarter of last year. The head of the National Association of Exporters and Importers of Romania and co-president of the Export Council, Mihai Ionescu, stated that a list of the top 200 products contributing to the trade deficit was sent to the Ministry of Economy, but that, so far, no measures have been taken in this regard.
DECORATION The interim President of Romania Ilie Bolojan decorated the handball player Cristina Neagu (36) with the Order of Faithful Service in the rank of knight for the remarkable performances achieved in her career. She is the only handball player to have won 4 times the International Handball Federation’s title of Best Player in the World. A member of CSM Bucharest club since 2017, Neagu announced her retirement at the end of this season. The retirement match, entitled Retirement of a Legend, will take place on June 8.
FOOTBALL Istvan Kovacs (Romania) has been appointed as the referee of the Champions League final between Paris St Germain and Inter Milan in Munich on May 31, UEFA announced on Monday. Aged 40, Istvan Kovacs was also the referee of the 2022 Europa Conference League final and the 2024 Europa League final between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen. He has also refereed seven Champions League matches this season, including the second leg between Liverpool and PSG. (AMP)
