September 2, 2025 UPDATE (2)
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 02.09.2025, 20:00
TALKS – Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has told his coalition partners that if the agreements reached when forming the Government are not observed, it will be difficult for him to do his job as Prime Minister. At the Cotroceni Palace, the presidential headquarters, president Nicuşor Dan met with leaders of ruling coalition parties. On Monday, the UDMR leader, Kelemen Hunor, said that the meeting is a normal one for the start of the parliamentary session. Asked if it was related to disagreements in the ruling coalition regarding the local administration reform project, which has been postponed, he said that maintaining dialogue is normal, taking into account the president’s role as mediator.
VISIT – The President of the European Council, António Costa, will travel to Bucharest on Wednesday for talks with Romanian President, Nicușor Dan, the Presidential Administration has announced. Costa will visit most of the EU countries until September 19. This tour of the capitals will allow him to listen to the opinions of the heads of state or government regarding the situation in the EU and to prepare the ground for future European Councils and international summits. On Monday, President Nicușor Dan met at the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” military air base (southeast) with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who hailed Romania’s involvement in maintaining security on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. In turn, Nicușor Dan said that Romania will be able to host a European security hub.
ALERT – Romania’s General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations issued a new alert through the emergency service on Monday night for the northern area of Tulcea County (southeast), in the context of the war in neighboring Ukraine, invaded by Russian troops. The population received text messages, warning people about the possibility of falling debris and urging them to take cover for a 90-minute interval.
ENERGY – Energy Minister, Bogdan Ivan, has announced new measures designed to lower electricity prices. The Ministry is considering expanding production capacities, developing clear market regulations and direct investments in transport and distribution. At the same time, the Energy Minister committed to renegotiating the deadlines for closing coal-fired production capacities by at least 5 years. Thus, Romania will not shut down coal-fired production at the Oltenia Energy Complex on December 31, 2025, as it had been scheduled, until it starts new gas-fired production capacities and develops new storage solutions for solar and wind energy. In addition, the Government in Bucharest is preparing five market reform measures. State-owned companies will have to play an active role in price stability, better guaranteeing energy transactions, cutting technical transport costs, energy efficiency in the economy, in institutions and especially in homes and, very importantly, smart metering and dynamic tariffs. Last week, Minister Ivan threatened suppliers that energy prices could end up being discussed in the Supreme Council for National Defense and urged Romanians to file complaints with the Consumer Protection Agency.
PROTEST – The new school year will begin in Romania on September 8 with a protest staged by teachers – education union leaders have announced. They plan to picket the Government headquarters, and then march to Cotroceni Palace, the headquarters of the Presidential Administration. Teachers are mainly disgruntled with the increase in the number of students in classes, the reduction in the number of merit scholarship beneficiaries, the increase in the teaching norm and the reduction of the rates for paying overtime. Education employees will continue their protests on Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Education, but also in front of the government. According to union federations, in recent decades, the teaching norm has been constant and has become among the highest in the EU, and teachers’ work is not limited only to teaching hours. In the next five years, tens of thousands of teachers will reach retirement age, and qualified substitute teachers were supposed to fill this gap. However, once eliminated from the system this year, they will migrate to other fields and will not return to education, union representatives also claim.
FOOTBALL – Romanian national football squad coach, Mircea Lucescu, has announced the 26-man lineup for this month’s friendly match against Canada and the World Cup preliminaries match against Cyprus. Lucescu has called up 13 players who play for clubs abroad and another 13 footballers from the domestic championship. On Friday, September 5, Romania is playing Canada while on Tuesday, September 9, our team will play Cyprus away from home in Group H of the 2026 World Cup preliminaries. The leader of the group is Bosnia, with 9 points, followed by Austria and Romania with 6 points each, Cyprus with 3 points and San Marino with zero points. (EE & VP)
