The Week in Review 23 – 28 February
A roundup of the past week's main events
Ştefan Stoica, 28.02.2026, 14:00
Ukraine, four years of war
On Monday, February 23rd, the Romanian MPs kept a moment of silence to commemorate the citizens of Ukraine killed in the war. The event anticipated the marking on February 24th of four years since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Palace of Parliament and the Presidency were lit in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. According to data released by the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies the total number of fatalities would go towards 2 million people, out of which two thirds are Russian troops. The drama of what it is unanimously considered the bloodiest conflict after WWII has been completed by the millions of refugees who had to flee the war. Romania will continue to offer the necessary support to Ukraine, President Nicusor Dan said after participating on Tuesday in a teleconference of the Coalition of the Willing. “Ukraine fights with dignity and courage to defend us all and for this we are grateful. Such a long period of war makes the resilience of the Ukrainian people to be all the more so admirable,” the Head of the Romanian state wrote on X social network.
Reforms
After months of political debates inside the quadruple coalition, ideologically heterogeneous and far from interior harmony, through an emergency ordinance the government adopted on Tuesday the public administration reform. Its objectives are to render the activity in city halls more effective and decentralized, to curb bureaucracy and improve tax collection. Nearly 12,800 jobs are to be slashed in the local public administration, the Development Minister Cseke Attila has announced. They add to the 20 thousand vacant jobs. At central level with the exception of several fields such as defence, culture or healthcare, the ordinance provides for 10% cuts in personnel expenses in various ministries and subordinated institutions. A major chapter of the public administration reform is dedicated to increasing the degree of collecting local taxes, duties and fines.
This because the authorities are complaining they have registered losses of billions to tax evasion and the defective collection of fines. Also by means of an emergency ordinance, measures of supporting the economy have been endorsed, which entail costs of up to five billion Euros. According to Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, the measures are to ensure a strategic transition from the growth based on consumption to one supported by investment and local output.
Protests
Police trade unions on Tuesday staged a protest calling for the elimination from the law on the administration reform of the passage providing for increasing the retirement age. Earlier trade unions had participated in the public debates on the draft ordinance of the Ministry of Development, which says that in 30 days since its endorsement, the Ministry of Defence and the Interior must amend the law and increase the standard retirement age for police and servicemen. Teachers protested a day later the way the government increased the number of their working hours, the way scholarships are granted and the merger of education units. Teachers do not rule out the idea of staging an all-out strike in the period of the national exams. Their move was also backed by the students who pointed out to the effects of the policies of underfunding education and called for an increased scholarship funds.
European Money
Romania’s Constitutional Court has published the motivation of their ruling to reject the latest notification by the Supreme Court on the magistrate pensions and has ruled in favour of promulgating the law regulating them. In spite of the big delay in its endorsement, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan is optimistic and says that Romania stands good chances of getting from Brussels part of the sums dedicated to this law. In fact, the European money, especially this allotted to Romania in exchange for the implementation of the reforms stipulated in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience was high on the agenda of the talks, the head of the Romanian government held in Brussels with the Chief of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. By the end of August, the deadline, Romania could get roughly 10 billion Euros, if it advances reforms and makes other payment applications. Bolojan also participated in the launch of a programme called EastInvest, a financial instrument exclusively devoted to the countries in the vicinity of the war in Ukraine. This makes available 28 billion Euros, which could be attracted in order to help the economies of the regions at Europe’s eastern border. Romania together with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are an example of commitment regarding the impressive investment in defence and military mobility and the measures taken to improve security contribute to the increased competitiveness in this region, the head of the European Commission said.
Forecasts
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development revised down to 1.2% the forecast of Romania’s economic growth in 2016, against its September estimate of 1.6%, says a report it published on Thursday. The 2026 growth and the 2.2% advance in 2027 are supported by an envisaged peak in European funds absorption and the improvement of the trade balance, the EBRD says. The companies’ trust remains low against the political turmoil in the first semester of the year and the measures of fiscal consolidation implemented in the second part of 2025, the EBRD says.
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