The Week in Review 8-14 December
A roundup of the headline-grabbing events of the past week
Ştefan Stoica, 13.12.2025, 14:00
Constitutional Court rulings
Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) has this week rejected a notification from the populists in Parliament and validated a law, under which as of January 1st taxes on housing and vehicles on dividends and incomes from transactions with cryptocurrencies will increase. However, the CCR has postponed for the end of the year its most expected ruling, namely the one on the special pensions of the magistrates for which the government has again assumed responsibility in Parliament. The CCR judges have contested the bill as it would discriminate the magistrates against other categories of pensioners and would infringe on the independence of the country’s legal system. A milestone of the PNRR, the bill proposed by the government is capping the judges and prosecutors’ pensions to 70% of their last net salary and is gradually increasing their retirement age up to 65 years.
Justice under scrutiny
By chance or not the CCR has postponed the aforementioned decision at a very delicate moment for Romania’s justice system. An investigation by the independent journalists of the Recorder and released through the Internet under the title, ‘Captured Justice’, is revealing how former and incumbent magistrates contributed to the prescription of some big corruption cases. The documentary has also revealed the effects of having the power centralized at the level of a few magistrates connected to some politicians. ‘We began reinventing the law’ a magistrate told the journalists adding, ‘masking the idea of justice is demoralizing the magistrates and disarming the citizens. After the release of the aforementioned investigation, thousands of people took to the streets of Bucharest and other Romanian cities. They protested in front of the Superior Council of Magistracy chanting, ‘Justice, not mafia’, and ‘We want justice not immunity’. The courage of the magistrates still in service to denounce what is toxic in the country’s legal system and the complicity of the politicians, has been contagious and got their colleague’s solidarity. The leadership of the Superior Council of the Magistrates and the Appeal Court in Bucharest, who have been criticized in the aforementioned documentary, have reacted vehemently and denounced a concerted attack against the legal power, an attempt at deligitimizing and decredibilizating it.
Bucharest has a Liberal Mayor
The Liberal Ciprian Ciucu will be the general mayor of Bucharest until 2028. A mayor with recognized merits, Ciucu mustered over 36% of the votes in the by-election staged on December 7. The Mayor post remained vacant after the former mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan had won the presidential election this year. Ciucu was followed by journalist Anca Alexandrescu – backed by populist and ultranationalist political groups, with 22% and by Social-Democratic candidate Daniel Băluţă, mayor of Bucharest’s district 4, who was favored in many opinion polls. The USR candidate Cătălin Drulă ranked only fourth although Bucharest was considered a stronghold of this centrist group. Pundits are worried by the electorate’s increasing apathy, reflected by such a low turnout under 33%.
The Political Consequences of the by-election
The rise of the co-called sovereignists in Bucharest, a centre-to-right stronghold should make the PNL, USR and PSD think in spite of the good results PNL got in the election. Experts believe the populists are grabbing votes from the traditional leftist electorate. Ciprian Ciucu’s win in Bucharest is consolidating on short term the position of Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan who in the past year had to endure the populist whims of his main partner in the pro-European coalition, the PSD. Alerted by the new election failure and having an eye on the sovereignist threat, the Social-Democrats have announced they kicked off a process of internal analysis after the first six months of participation in the Bolojan cabinet. Following the evaluation, maybe next month they will decide whether to join the opposition. According to leader Sorian Grindeanu, the evaluation will take into account the way in which the PSD proposals regarding the budget, the minimum wages or the administration reform are going to be treated. However, the PSD decided not to vote for the new censure motion initiated by the populist, ultranationalist MPs, which was tabled in Parliament on Monday. The no-confidence vote sounds as an invitation to cooperation launched to the PSD and explicitly calls for the eviction of the USR from the ruling coalition, a favourite target of the sovereignists and Social-Democrats.
The first visit paid by the Romanian President to France
On Monday, in the first day of his working visit to Paris, Romanian President Nicuşor Dan met members of the Diaspora, whom he thanked on the efforts they are making for preserving the Romanian identity. The presidential administration, President Dan pledged, is trying to build an interface in terms of cooperation with the communities of Romanians outside the country. President Dan’s talks with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron focused on the way the French companies can contribute to the major investment Romania prepares in the defence area through the European SAFE programme. The Romanian president had already tackled the issue during a meeting with the representatives of the companies in the field of defence and emerging technologies. Romania will significantly invest in defence, but not only as a buyer, Nicusor Dan says. According to him, Bucharest wants partners, which bring in Romania output, technology, jobs and export capabilities. On the other hand, Dan didn’t rule out the idea of increasing the number of French troops stationed in Romania, as part of the NATO Battle Group, but no decision in this respect has been made yet. According to the Bucharest leader, “given the present security challenges there is one strong European force able to mobilize at any time in order to defend Romania”.
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