November 5, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 05.11.2025, 13:55
Visit. President Nicuşor Dan today received NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is travelling for the first time to Romania since taking over the leadership of the Alliance. They are discussing the threats faced by NATO, especially on the eastern flank, and ways to boost Romania’s security and the collective defence and deterrence capacity. Mark Rutte will next meet prime minister Ilie Bolojan, Senate speaker Mircea Abrudean and Chamber of the Deputies speaker Sorin Grindeanu. Mark Rutte is in Romania for the NATO-Industry Forum, hosted by Bucharest on 5th and 6th November, which he will attend together with the Romanian president on 6th November.
Football. Former Romanian football manager Emeric Ienei, who won the European Cup with Steaua Bucharest in 1986, died today, aged 88. As a player, Ienei played for UTA Arad, Kayserispor and Steaua Bucharest between 1954 and 1969, being capped for 254 matches and scoring 7 goals. As a coach, he worked with well-known names in Romanian football, such as Marius Lăcătuș, Loți Boloni and Helmut Duckadam, who passed away at the end of 2024. Emeric Ienei also served two tenures as manager of the Romanian national team, from 1986 to 1990 and from January to June 2000, and also managed Hungary’s national side. For his achievement to win the most important trophy in the history of Romanian football, the European Champions Cup, Emeric Ienei was decorated, in March 2008, with the Order of Sports Merit, 2nd Class with barrette.
EU. The Romanian foreign ministry welcomed in a statement the publication by the European Commission of the Annual Package on the Enlargement of the European Union, which contains the assessment reports for the six partners in the Western Balkans and Turkey, as well as the country reports for the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. The ministry hails and shares the emphasis of the European Commission that the enlargement process will continue to be based on merit, taking into account the objective progress made by each state. The ministry thus welcomes the Commission’s reiteration of the fact that the candidate countries must continue on the path of sustainable reforms, based on respect for the rule of law and the fundamental rights, as well as on their clear adherence to the geopolitical position of the European Union.
Mourning. The mayor of Rome declared Wednesday a day of municipal mourning in memory of the Romanian worker who died after the partial collapse of a 13th-century tower in central Rome, where he worked. The 66-year-old man died in hospital, a few hours after being pulled from the rubble, where he remained for 11 hours, until firefighters managed to extract him. President Nicuşor Dan sent his condolences to the man’s family on Tuesday. “My thoughts also go to all the Romanians who work far from home, with dedication and sacrifice,” the head of state wrote on social media. He praised the efforts of the Italian rescue teams who tried to save the worker’s life. Another Romanian worker who also trapped in the rubble was extracted evacuated and is out of danger.
Pensions. The Constitutional Court of Romania has postponed by one week making a decision regarding a complaint from the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, a populist, ultranationalist opposition party with respect to the law on the payment of private pensions. The bill, recently passed by Parliament, stipulates that pensioners who want to withdraw their private pensions will initially be able to receive only 30% of what they have accumulated, with the rest to be paid in installments over the following eight years. Only patients with oncological diseases and persons with low deposits in the private pensions fund can withdraw the full amount. The Supreme Court magistrates believe some of the law’s provisions may be unconstitutional. Alliance for the Union of Romanians has made a complaint to the Constitutional Court, saying the Bolojan government is stealing the pensions from the 2nd and 3rd pillars. The constitutional judges are expected to rule on November 12. (CM)
