May 6, 2026
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 06.05.2026, 13:55
Consultations. Romanian President Nicuşor Dan has announced that he will begin informal consultations with the political parties to form a new government, after the PNL-USR-UDMR cabinet led by Liberal Ilie Bolojan was dismissed on Tuesday via a no-confidence vote. The president explained that he will organize official consultations only after the options have become clear. The head of state urged calm and stressed that Romania will have a new government with pro-Western values within a “reasonable timeframe.” Nicuşor Dan ruled out the possibility of early elections. The Parliament in Bucharest withdrew its confidence in Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan after the no-confidence motion initiated by the former governing partner, the PSD, and supported by the opposition parties garnered the most votes in the country’s democratic history: 281 votes in favor and only 4 against. Following the legislature’s decision, the PNL leadership decided to no longer participate in the government alongside the PSD. The USR also no longer wishes to partner with the Social Democrats and has proposed closer collaboration with the Liberals. The UDMR has not yet made a decision. On the other hand, the PSD claims that it wants to find a quick solution for the government, for the sake of the country’s stability. The AUR, in opposition, has stated that it wants to participate in the government only if it gets to appoint the future prime minister. From a constitutional standpoint, the government led by Ilie Bolojan may remain in an interim capacity for 45 days, during which time it will not be able to issue emergency ordinances or introduce new laws.
SAFE. On Tuesday, the Romanian government approved a memorandum ratifying the loan agreement between the European Commission and Romania regarding the SAFE program. The document authorizes the Minister of Finance to sign this loan agreement, worth over 16.6 billion euros. Once the agreement is signed, it must be endorsed by law by the Parliament in Bucharest. The European SAFE program makes 150 billion euros available to European Union member states in the form of loans, on favorable terms, for investments in defense and the procurement of military equipment.
Magistrates. The Romanian government and the Ministry of Finance are required to pay judges their outstanding salary entitlements resulting from retroactive pay increases ordered by court rulings, the Bucharest Court of Appeals has ruled. The court upheld the action filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and ruled that the decision must be enforced within 10 days of the ruling becoming final, with penalties of 1% and a fine of 20% of the gross minimum wage for each day of delay. The draft budget submitted to Parliament by the Ministry of Finance in March allocated nearly 5 billion lei (nearly 1 billion euros) for the High Court in 2026, an increase of approximately 50% compared to the previous year. The additional funds were intended to cover these salary entitlements. The government decided, however, to postpone a portion of these payments. In 2023, the High Court and the General Prosecutor’s Office decided to increase the salaries of judges and prosecutors by 25%, retroactive to 2018, to align with court rulings.
Chisinau. The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, will be in Chişinău on May 7 and 8 for an official visit, the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova has announced. She will discuss security and defense issues with Foreign Minister Mihai Popşoi and Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi, and on Friday she will be received by President Maia Sandu and will meet with Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu and other high-level officials. The head of European diplomacy also plans to hold discussions with representatives of civil society and will participate in EuroQuiz, a quiz competition on the history, present, and future of the European Union, alongside young Moldovans. The Republic of Moldova is in the midst of aligning its national legislation with EU standards, having obtained candidate country status in June 2022.
Festival. The 30th edition of the European Film Festival kicks off today in 12 cities across Romania, including Bucharest. Until May 17, a variety of high-quality, recent European films will be screened, according to the Romanian Cultural Institute, co-organizer of the event alongside the embassies, institutes, and cultural centers of European Union member states. The anniversary edition also features short films from the 1990s, which, according to the organizers, deserve to be rediscovered just as much as the achievements of today’s young filmmakers deserve recognition. This year, the festival also has two honorary ambassadors—producer Ada Solomon, president of the Board of Directors of the European Film Academy, and director Igor Cobileanski, whose productions are representative of both Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he is suspending the military operation to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, after also stating that significant progress had been made toward an agreement with Iran. His announcement, however, contradicts earlier statements by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had promised that the operation would ensure freedom of navigation and trade through the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the United States and its Gulf allies have proposed a resolution at the UN that would impose sanctions on Iran if it does not end the attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, if it does not stop imposing illegal fees, and if it does not disclose where it has placed mines. (MI)
