May 25, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 25.05.2026, 20:00
RESIGNATION – Romania’s interim Minister of Culture, Demeter András István, announced his resignation on Monday following criticism triggered by an audio recording in which he used vulgar language and made controversial statements. He had initially questioned the authenticity of the recording, but later, after calls from UDMR, the party he represented in the dismissed government, he said that he offered his honourable resignation. A publication released on Monday an audio recording in which Demeter András István uses coarse language in a 2012 conversation regarding the acquisition of Radio Chișinău.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS – Romania’s Foreign Minister, Oana Țoiu, is taking part on Tuesday in Brussels in the General Affairs Council (GAC) meeting. The agenda includes a political debate on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034, with a focus on how the future EU budget can contribute to strengthening the integration of the Single Market. Afterwards, EU member states’ ministers and secretaries of state for European affairs will exchange views in preparation for the European Council meeting of June 18-19, 2026, will discuss the state of EU relations with the UK, and will hold another round of dialogue on the country reports concerning the rule of law.
VISIT – Austria’s Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, will be in Romania on Tuesday for an official visit. The Austrian official and his Romanian counterpart, Cătălin Predoiu, will deliver a press statement in the port of Constanța, focusing on the security of Romania’s and the European Union’s maritime border. The statement is being made in the context of the Austrian delegation’s visit on the occasion of an integrated exercise planned by the Interior Ministry structures and institutional partners responsible for combating illegal migration and ensuring the security of the EU’s external borders. According to the Interior Ministry, close cooperation between the authorities of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Austria has led to a reduction of more than 80% in illegal migration at the EU’s external borders.
GOVERNMENT – The President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, is expected to designate the future prime minister this week, following new consultations with the parliamentary parties. Previous discussions ended without a concrete outcome regarding the formation of a majority capable of supporting the new government. The parties that were part of the former pro‑Western coalition have not managed to reach an agreement and are unwilling to form an alliance with AUR (the nationalist opposition), so negotiations continue. Despite political differences, PSD, PNL, USR, and UDMR have signed an agreement committing to adopt the new public‑sector salary law by the end of the current parliamentary session, meaning the end of June. The law is a milestone assumed by Romania through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, on which a tranche of over 700 million euros depends.
FILM – The film “Fjord”, directed by Cristian Mungiu, has been included by the Romanian state on the list of strategic cultural projects, allowing it to receive funding for the international campaign supporting the film’s bid for the Academy Awards. (…) “Fjord” won the Palme d’Or this weekend at the Cannes Film Festival, giving it a privileged status and maximum visibility among members of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is not the Romanian director’s first major achievement at Cannes: in 2007, his film “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” was awarded the festival’s top prize. Mungiu has thus joined the select group of filmmakers who have won the Palme d’Or twice, an exclusive circle of only ten world‑renowned directors, including Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica. The success at Cannes also drew praise from the presidents of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Nicușor Dan and Maia Sandu, respectively.
DEFENCE – Romania’s Ministry of Defence has announced that, between June 25 – 27, the multinational exercise NOBLE BLUEPRINT 2026 is taking place in Romania. The training activity is organized under the coordination of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples, in cooperation with the Joint Forces Command. Planned activities include working sessions dedicated to planning mobility and counter‑mobility measures, coordinating actions among participating structures, as well as field reconnaissance missions carried out in the Focșani Gate area. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Focșani Gate is one of the most important strategic zones on NATO’s Eastern Flank, playing a key role in ensuring allied force mobility and strengthening reaction and defence capabilities in the Black Sea region.
SALARY LAW – The draft of the new salary law for employees paid from public funds was published on Monday on the website of the Ministry of Labour, and the interim minister, Dragoș Pîslaru, presented the document in a press conference. He recalled that the parties that were part of the former governing coalition agreed to support this reform in Parliament, a reform also included as a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, after reaching an understanding on several key elements, such as: no employee will face salary cuts, Romania’s fiscal commitments will be respected, and the law will be applied in full starting 1 January 2027, without phased implementation and without exemptions for specific professional categories. The interim Labour Minister, Dragoș Pîslaru, stated that the new salary law provides for 12 salary grades, and the reference value will be 4,800 lei. Parliament must adopt the law by 1 July. (EE)
