May 31, 2025 Update
A roundup of domestic and international news
Mihaela Ignătescu, 31.05.2025, 17:00
Negotiations. The pro-European parties in the Romanian Parliament, PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR, will begin negotiations on Monday on the formation of the new government and the program of economic measures to reduce the budget deficit. The four political leaders met with the President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, who stated that the new Executive will be formed in the next two to three weeks and that the future Prime Minister must have credibility, because a period of tough economic measures lies ahead. Also, a technical group formed by representatives of the four parties will work every day, President Nicuşor Dan also said, and its members aim to finalize the discussions by the end of next week and only then will debates be held on the executive formula and its composition, as well as on the name of the future Prime Minister.
PNNR. By June 10, Romania will receive from the European Commission 1,279,000,000 euros from the third payment request, included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNNR), the Minister of Investments and European Projects Marcel Boloş has anounced. However, Brussels has also decided to suspend the amount of 869,000,000 euros included in the same request. The money could be transferred at the end of November, only if the authorities in Bucharest have met the commitments regarding the reform of the special pension system, the appointment of the management of the agency that monitors the performance of public enterprises and the designation of administrators of companies subordinated to the Ministry of Energy. Marcel Boloş has also stated that a new payment request, the fourth one, is being negotiated with the European Commission. Romania wants to double the allocated amounts, from almost 2.7 billion euros to 5.7 billion. However, other reforms must be carried out, said the Minister of European Projects, who specified that these include, among others, a fiscal reform, taxes on pollution and transport, as well as reforms regarding the energy and the justice laws.
SAFE. Romania will have a new financial source to make investments for military and civilian use in the Black Sea. Roxana Mînzatu, executive vice-president of the European Commission, explained on Radio Romania that through the new EU regulation, called SAFE, the community executive can contract loans of 150 billion euros for member countries. Roxana Mînzatu referred to the Black Sea Maritime Security Hub which Romania will host. She emphasized that, for Romania and Bulgaria, it is very important to prioritize investments in the economic development of the region. “It is important that we say that we will invest in transport infrastructure, and this means road, railway and sea infrastructure. The counties of Constanţa, Tulcea (southeast, on the Black Sea) everything that means port and maritime infrastructure, are relevant, they are strategic”, Roxana Mînzatu also said.
Eurostat. A quarter of the European children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat data published ahead of International Children’s Day on June 1. In Romania, the share is higher than the EU average, but statistics show that the situation has improved in the last two years. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels, Eurostat data for last year show that 33.8% of Romanian children under 18 are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This is the third highest rate in the European Union, followed by Bulgaria with 35.1% and Spain with 34.6%. At the opposite end, the lowest rates are found in Slovenia, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic. In total, the number of disadvantaged children in the European Union is estimated to be 19.5 million, or 24.2% in this case, which means one child in four. The number has decreased, however, from one year to another, and compared to the previous year it is a decrease of 0.6%. The largest reductions in these risks were recorded in Romania, by 5.2% in just one year. At the opposite pole, the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion increased in countries such as Finland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Belgium, with rates between 3.5% and 1.2%.
Praid. The disaster at the Praid Salt Mine, in Harghita County (central Romania), affects the entire population in the area, which depends on the salt mine. The government will allocate 300 million lei (60 million euros) in funds to resolve the underlying situation, and an inter-ministerial working group will assess the damage caused by precipitation in the salt mine area and decide what can be done urgently to eliminate the effects and to restore and save the salt mine. With a history dating back to Roman times and constituting one of the largest rock salt deposits in Europe, the Praid salt reserves are strategic for the Romanian economy, contributing to the growing annual profit of the state-owned company, which has been increasingly exporting to European countries.
Rowing. Romania won six medals, including three gold, two bronze and one silver, in the six finals in which it had representatives, on Saturday, at the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv (Bulgaria). The first gold medal of the tricolors was won in the women’s double sculls event, with a new European record (06:49.18), by Magdalena Rusu and Simona Radiş. Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci also won gold, in the men’s double sculls, also with a new European record (06:11.57). The third gold medal was won by the men’s four-sculls crew. Olympic champions Sebastian Cornea and Marian Enache won silver in the men’s double sculls. The women’s four-sculls team also won silver. In the women’s double sculls event, Andrada Moroşanu and Mariana Dumitru won the bronze medal. On Sunday, Romania will be represented in four other finals at the European Championships in Plovdiv.
Gymnastics. Romanian athlete Ana Bărbosu won the gold medal on floor and the silver medal on beam on Saturday at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Leipzig, Germany. Romania’s last gold medal on floor at the Europeans was won by Larisa Iordache in 2020. A bronze medalist on floor at the 2024 Olympics, Ana Bărbosu won the bronze medal on uneven bars on Friday and the bronze medal on the all-around in Leipzig on Thursday.
Tennis. The pair Irina Begu/Yanina Wickmayer (Romania/Belgium) qualified, on Saturday, for the next round of the doubles event at the Roland Garros tournament, the second Grand Slam of the year. Irina Begu and Yanina Wickmayer defeated in the second round to the pair Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Liudmila Samsonova (USA/Russia), with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. (MI)
