THE WEEK IN REVIEW

November 10-14

Daniela Budu, 15.11.2025, 13:24

Romania’s National Strategy – under public debate

President Nicușor Dan presented, on Wednesday, the draft of the new National Defense Strategy of the Country for the period 2025-2030, which is subject to public debate for approximately two weeks before being sent to Parliament for approval. Romania must establish closer ties with its Black Sea allies to protect from Russian threats the energy projects that will transform it into the largest gas producer in the European Union in 2027, the document states. At the same time, Romania’s strategic partnership with the US is of “overwhelming importance”. Romania must maintain its partnerships and manifest its interests within the EU, within NATO, and in its relationship with the US, the head of state also said. Russia’s hostile actions are considered the main threat to national security, but the document also identifies other vulnerabilities, from demographic decline to the weak administrative capacity of the state. A meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense on the National Defense Strategy will take place on November 24. Meanwhile, the largest military exercise of the year held in NATO training grounds in Romania ended on Thursday. Dacian Fall 2025 began on October 20 and brought together 5,000 soldiers from 10 member countries of the Alliance, with 1,200 vehicles and technical means.

Special pension reform – deadlocked

There were intense negotiations in Bucharest within the governing coalition. At the beginning of the week, it announced that it had reached an agreement regarding the reduction of salary expenses in local and central administration. Thus, next year, personnel expenses will be reduced by 10% compared to this year in the central public administration, and in the local one, the possibility of reducing existing positions by 30% in all administrative-territorial units was agreed upon. On the other hand, negotiations on special pensions, which include magistrates’ pensions, have not yielded concrete results, even though President Nicuşor Dan invited the leaders of the governing coalition and representatives of the judiciary to discussions. According to political sources quoted by Radio Romania, the coalition has proposed a transition period for the application of the new retirement conditions of 10 years and possibly longer, and that pensions be 70% of the last salary. Magistrates, however, want the transition period to be longer than 15-20 years and that pensions represent 65% of the last gross salary. If this reform is not adopted by the end of the month, Bucharest could lose 231 million euros included in the NPRR. Meanwhile, Romania obtained, on Thursday, after more than a year of negotiations, the approval of the revised National Recovery and Resilience Plan, during the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Brussels. The new plan has a total value of over 21.4 billion euros. Bucharest has already collected half of the amount, and the other half will be received by the end of next year.

Protests and inflation

Meanwhile, in Bucharest, several thousand unionists of the National Union Bloc protested on Wednesday, dissatisfied with the imposed austerity measures, which lead to a decrease in purchasing power, and with the government policies that fuel inflation. They are demanding an increase in the minimum wage over the economy, the elimination of wage cuts and the reduction of tax evasion, and are threatening to notify the European Commission. Also on Wednesday, the National Institute of Statistics announced that the annual inflation rate remained at 9.8% in October, very close to the value of the previous month. Compared to October 2024, non-food goods and services increased the most, by almost 11%, and food prices increased by about 7.6 percent. According to the INS, electricity increased the most last month, by 72% annually, but slightly down from the previous month. In turn, the National Bank of Romania revised upwards to 8.8% the inflation forecast for the end of this year and anticipates that inflation will reach 3 percent only at the end of next year. The NBR adopted the Quarterly Report on Inflation, a document in which it anticipates that this indicator will record a modest decrease in the next 9 months. This is an effect of the expiration on July 1 of the electricity price cap scheme, and the increase on August 1 of VAT and excise duties – notes the Central Bank.

Romanian-Moldovan collaboration

Romania has been, is and will remain the strategic partner and closest supporter of the Republic of Moldova, declared Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, after meeting in Bucharest with his Moldovan counterpart, Alexandru Munteanu. ‘We must continue and deepen the joint projects, already undertaken or that we will decide together in the future, for the benefit of citizens on both banks of the Prut,’ stated Ilie Bolojan. He referred to bilateral cooperation projects in the field of energy and transport infrastructure, as well as to projects regarding the facilitation of transit at border points. In turn, Alexandru Munteanu appreciated the support offered by Romania, noting that the Republic of Moldova wishes to contribute to regional security, energy connectivity, and European unity. Alexandru Munteanu also specified “Moldova is building, with a constant helping hand from Romania, a path alongside European states,”.

Prince Ghyka returned home

The remains of the last ruler of the Romanian principality of Moldavia (east), Grigore Alexandru Ghyka (between 1849 and 1856, with a short interruption), were brought on Wednesday to Iași (northeast), the former capital of Moldavia, where they will be buried near the Orthodox church in which the ruler was anointed. After being exhumed on November 7, from a town near Paris, where the ruler lived the last part of his life in exile, the coffin with his earthly remains were brought with military honors to Bucharest, where they were deposited at the Presidency. Special events on the occasion of the repatriation of the coffin then took place in Focșani (southeast), for centuries a border town between the two Romanian principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia.