May 12, 2026
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 12.05.2026, 13:55
VISIT The President of Poland, the nationalist Karol Nawrocki, is today meeting in Bucharest his Romanian counterpart, Nicusor Dan. The two high officials are going to have formal talks in the afternoon, which will be followed by a news conference. In the evening, the head of the Romanian state will be having a working dinner with the Polish president and the secretary general of the North-Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte. Dan and Nawrocki will be co-chairing the B9 Summit and the Nordic countries on Wednesday, an event, which will also be attended by Rutte. Bucharest is also hosting the Forum of Security at the Black Sea and the Balkans. High on the agenda are the war in the neighbouring Ukraine and its impact on security in the region and in Europe. A stronger Europe, a stronger NATO, President Nicusor Dan said in the opening of this Forum.
LIST Ukraine has changed the list of the countries with which it runs a double citizenship agreement; the new list has 29 new states, including Romania – mass-media in Bucharest has announced. The initial list included only five states, namely Canada, Germany, Poland the USA and the Czech Republic. The new law added Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Finland, France, Croatia, Switzerland and Sweden. Under the new legislation, the Ukrainian citizens can get a second citizenship without renouncing the Ukrainian one. It also simplifies the procedures for the ethnic Ukrainians in the respective countries who apply for Ukrainian citizenship. Over 400 thousand ethnic Romanians are living in the neighbouring country, mainly in northern Bukovina, Herţa and Bessarabia, all Romanian territories annexed by the Soviet Union, following an ultimatum in 1940, and taken over by Ukraine in 1991 after the dismantling of the USSR.
DEFICIT Romania’s budget deficit in the first trimester stays at a very good level, 1.04% of the GDP, way below last year’s deficit, which is a major advantage, the Romanian Finance Minister says. Alexandru Nazare held talks with Standard&Poor’s and the other rating agencies and the conclusion was that Romania must keep its fiscal discipline and the pace of reforms to avoid the deterioration of its rating. According to the minister, the data shows that Romania has made major headway and the fiscal-budgetary direction is a good one. He cautions that the months of July, August and October are very important, as the rating agencies are releasing their periodical assessments and their decisions can have extremely serious consequences for Romania’s loan costs.
TALKS Referring to the political crisis Romania is currently facing, the country’s President, Nicusor Dan, said on Tuesday that alternatives of a government supported by a Parliament majority are relatively few. He added that the alternative of a technocratic Prime Minister stands more chances though. Dan continues to reject the idea of snap elections and voiced conviction the majority will be focusing on a solution to forge the new government. In his opinion, this situation will not last longer and the period of time to appoint a new Prime Minister is reasonable. We recall that a week ago, the minority government, made up of PNL, USR, UDMR was sacked through a no confidence vote initiated by the former ruling partner PSD and the populist, ultranationalist self-proclaimed sovereignist party, AUR. Formal talks, involving the president and the political parties for the designation of a new Prime Minister, are expected to take place on Thursday or Monday at the latest.
(bill)
