November 10, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 10.11.2025, 13:55
REPORT – The relative poverty rate in Romania was, in 2024, 19%, the number of poor people corresponding to this rate being 3,595,000, according to data centralized by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). According to the INS, the relative poverty rate represents the share of poor people whose income per adult is lower than the threshold established at 60% of the median disposable income per adult in the total population. The highest incidence of poverty is found among adolescents under 18 and young people aged 18-24. The highest poverty rates were recorded in the South-West Oltenia, South-East and North-East regions, and the lowest in Bucharest-Ilfov.
REFORM – The final form of the public administration reform project in Romania will be presented this week by the Minister of Development, Cseke Attila, and the document will then be analyzed in first reading in the PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR government. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said that the package will also be passed by taking responsibility in Parliament, as it does not only include staff cuts, but also some provisions to increase the efficiency of city halls. Also this week, the new draft law on the reform of magistrates’ pensions will be drafted. The two reforms must be adopted by the time the state budget for next year is drafted, in order to contribute to reducing the deficit in 2026.
LAWS – The Romanian Senate will debate and vote, as a decision-making body, on the draft law on the preparation of the population for defense. The document is to be amended from the form adopted by the Chamber of Deputies in the sense of maintaining some specialties in operational reserve, especially regarding modern warfare. Also in the Senate, the committees are considering a draft law on the prevention and fight against femicide, signed by over 250 senators and deputies of the ruling parties. The document provides for harsher punishments for aggressors and proposes the establishment of a national observatory for the analysis and prevention of murders. The Chamber of Deputies is expected to hold a final vote on the draft law that amends the Criminal Code, in the sense of introducing additional measures to protect victims of domestic violence and toughening the penalties applied to repeat aggressors. Also on the legislative agenda this week are the draft law on online legal age and the new Urban Planning Code.
SABRE – The Romanian men’s sabre team won the silver medals after being defeated by France 45-38 in the final of the World Cup in Algeria. Romania (George Dragomir, Vlad Covaliu, Răzvan Ursachi, Radu Niţu) defeated Chile in the first round, 45-29, in the round of 16 they prevailed over Poland, 45-33, in the quarterfinals they defeated Uzbekistan, 45-30, and in the semifinals they won 45-40 over Japan, which won the bronze, after 45-32 with Russia. In the women’s sabre, Romania (Amalia Covaliu, Anastasia Fusea, Catinca Dumitru, Andreea Şerbănoiu) ranked 20th, after being defeated by Azerbaijan in the first round, 45-37.
VISAS – Travel between the Republic of Moldova and Russia will not be affected by the intention of the Government in Chisinau to introduce visas for citizens of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry has announced. The institution has indicated that a separate bilateral agreement on visa abolition is in force between the Moldovan and Russian states. The clarification comes in the context in which the Government in Chisinau is to examine, at this week’s meeting, several normative acts that denounce agreements signed with the Commonwealth of Independent States, an organization whose countries were part of the former Soviet Union. In addition to the visa agreement, Chisinau also wants to abandon the one on military transport or the one on cooperation in the field of chemistry and petrochemicals. (EE)
