September 15, 2025
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.09.2025, 13:55
Visit. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann is in Romania today, where he has already met with President Nicuşor Dan and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. The foreign official’s visit is part of Romania’s process of accession to the organization of developed countries – a strategic priority, as provided for in the government program. In June 2022, Romania began discussions on joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which requires alignment with the highest standards in economic and fiscal policy, transparency in decision-making, and sectoral policies. In an earlier statement, the prime minister recalled that accession is not only a foreign policy objective but also a real opportunity for reform, based on best practices and international standards. The reports prepared by the OECD not only provide a solid analysis of Romania’s public policies in the areas in which the country is evaluated, but also offer concrete suggestions for improvement. Currently, the OECD has 38 member states, including the world’s major economies.
Motion. The Senate plenary session in Bucharest is debating and voting today on the simple motion submitted by AUR criticizing the government’s policies in the field of education. “Romania is facing an unprecedented crisis in education, and under the leadership of Minister Daniel David, the national education system has been subjected to brutal austerity measures, implemented through lies, manipulation, and disregard for the real needs of students, parents, and teachers,” states the motion signed by 38 opposition senators. The initiators point out that the reason given for the measures adopted – reducing the deficit – will, according to the Fiscal Council, bring savings of only 0.02% of the GDP. Teachers are dissatisfied with the increase in teaching hours, the decrease in hourly pay, the merging of some educational institutions, and the increase in the maximum number of students in classrooms. After protests organized by education unions during the summer vacation, September 8—the first day of the school year—was marked by a rally and march by teachers.
Protest. Several thousand public administration employees are protesting today in Bucharest against the staff reduction measures announced by the executive. They believe that the unilateral decision taken by the government is causing blockages in the public sector and are calling for the resumption of negotiations between the authorities and trade unions. Otherwise, the trade unionists are threatening to call an all-out strike. Employees from the government apparatus are also participating in the demonstration, after they stopped work and launched a spontaneous protest. This afternoon, a delegation of protesters will be received for talks by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
Rating. Moody’s has reconfirmed Romania’s government debt rating at BAA3 for long-term debt and P-3 for short-term debt, as well as its negative outlook. Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare says that the reconfirmation of the rating underscores that Romania is on a credible path to fiscal consolidation. The measures adopted in July and September by the government to reduce the budget deficit have significantly improved Romania’s fiscal outlook. According to Moody’s, the outlook could be raised from negative to stable if the government debt burden and debt sustainability indicators evolve in line with or more favorably than the agency’s current estimates.
Drones. Russia’s incursion into Romanian airspace is yet another flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the European Union and a serious threat to regional security, according to messages sent by officials in Brussels after Saturday’s incident. At that time, a drone used by the Russian Federation entered Romanian airspace, which it flew over for 50 minutes before crossing into Ukraine. According to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense, two F-16 aircraft from the Romanian Air Force intercepted the drone and received permission to shoot it down, but the pilots decided not to open fire due to collateral risks. In Bucharest, the Russian Federation’s ambassador to Romania was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey “strong protest against an unacceptable and irresponsible act, which represents a violation of Romania’s sovereignty.”
Exercise. Military personnel from ten NATO countries, including Romania, will participate between October 20 and November 13, 2025, in the multinational exercise DACIAN FALL 2025, held in training areas in Romania and Bulgaria, to strengthen operational integration and deterrence posture on the Alliance’s eastern flank. This involves more than 5,000 military personnel with 1,200 technical assets from ten allied countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain.
Medal. Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneca Voinea won the gold medal in the floor final on Sunday evening at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Paris. Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who had also received the highest score in the qualifiers, 13.633, won with 13.800 points. The silver medal went to Russia’s Angelina Melnikova with 13.400 points, and the bronze medal was won by Finland’s Kaia Tanskanen with 13.366 points. (MI)
