The Week in Review
A look at the main stories in Romania this past week.
Leyla Cheamil, 07.02.2026, 14:00
The priorities of the Romanian authorities
Parliament in Bucharest convened for a new session. The ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania is focusing on adopting the state budget, administrative reform and economic recovery measures. The Social Democrats’ leader Sorin Grindeanu estimates that the new budget bill will be presented towards the end of the month and is convinced that resources will be found for the measures to support vulnerable categories proposed by the Social Democrats. The Liberals say they have always generated stability within the coalition and would agree with the social measures proposed by the Social Democrats, but not if there is no money, said the speaker of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean.
On the other hand, the parliamentary opposition submitted three simple motions to the Senate. That of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians denounces the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, while the parliamentary group “Peace – Romania First” submitted a motion relating to the activity and some of the statements made by the defence minister Radu Miruţă, and another relating to education. The three motions will be debated and voted on in the Parliament’s plenary session on February 9. As priorities for the current parliamentary session, the Alliance for the Union of Romaians will support an initiative to index pensions and allowances to keep up with the inflation rate, as well as a project to eliminate tax on the purchase of the first home.
In the government meeting, finance minister Alexandru Nazare presented the measures forming part of the economic recovery package. He said the instruments to support companies are being modernised, introducing new concepts and new ways of financing, so that Romania will boost its competitiveness and chances of attracting foreign investments and developing large Romanian investments. Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced that the difficult period of budgetary adjustment is over and Romania is entering the path towards economic recovery.
Dissatisfaction and protests
Trade unions in education staged a protest in front of the Government headquarters on Wednesday. They criticised the measures adopted by the government, being dissatisfied especially with the increase in teaching hours and the decrease in the amounts for payments by the hour. According to representatives of the three participating unions, approximately 4,000 people, including students, took part in the protest. They are opposed to the austerity measures adopted last year, which led to the decrease in the scholarship fund and the elimination of certain discounts on local and rail transport.
Mayors are also dissatisfied. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan met in Bucharest a delegation of mayors from around the country, ahead of the adoption of the 2026 state budget. Many mayors have criticised the reform in the administration, which involves significant spending cuts. Talks also covered the financing of projects that are part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Anghel Saligny national program for the modernisation of local communities, and presented the prime minister with the problems they face at administrative level.
Increased punishment for femicide
The Senate in Bucharest adopted with a majority of votes a draft law on the prevention and combating of femicide and the violence that precedes it. Initiated by a group of over 250 MPs from across the political spectrum, the law ensures real protection for the orphans of femicide, recognised as direct victims, providing for immediate protection measures, and establishes aggravating penalties when violence occurs in the presence of minors. According to the bill, “femicide is the intentional killing of a woman, as well as the death of a woman resulting from blows or injuries causing death, or other crimes accompanied by violence, regardless of whether the acts are committed by a family member or a third party.”
Accusations rejected
European officials have rejected accusations of censorship made in a report by experts from the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress. The document claims that the European C omission put pressure on major online platforms, such as TikTok, Meta and Google, to eliminate or limit certain types of political content.
The authors of the report state that these actions affected public debate and the electoral process in several EU member states, including Romania. The decision to cancel the 2024 presidential elections in Romania was an internal legal act to protect the constitutional order, said Romania’s president, Nicuşor Dan. He explained that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania was based on documents that categorically indicated the distortion of equal opportunities between candidates and the massive corruption of the electoral campaign process by a single candidate, through the non-transparent and illegal use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, as well as by using undeclared funding for his election campaign, including in the online environment.
The president pointed out that the TikTok platform itself admitted that it had identified several hidden influence networks, that it had prevented and removed tens of thousands of fake accounts and interactions, and banned hundreds of accounts that were imitating presidential candidates.
Romania at the Olympic Games
Romania is represented at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina by 29 athletes in events such as alpine skiing, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, bobsleigh, figure skating and luge. The Games are taking place between February 6 and 22. One of the Olympic torchbearers was Romanian Cristi Chivu, the current coach of the Inter Milan football team. Romania to date only won one medal at the winter Games, back in 1968.
