June 21, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 21.06.2026, 18:21
Government. In a meeting of their National Political Council on Sunday, the Social Democrats decided to support the government proposed by the prime minister-designate Adrian Veştea and to be part of government, according to political sources. In exchange for their backing they asked for nine ministerial posts and the position of government secretary general. They also requested that Adrian Veştea’s ruling programme entails a series of proposals seeking to boost people’s incomes and investments. Prime minister-designate Adrian Veştea is expected to submit his programme and cabinet list to Parliament, with the constitutional 10-day deadline expiring on Tuesday.
Congress. Interim prime minister Ilie Bolojan was reelected leader of the National Liberal Party at the extraordinary congress held on Sunday. He won 1,769 votes from the 1,886 delegates attending the congress, and was the only candidate to run. Ilie Bolojan said he aims to rebuild the party to regain people’s trust and become a driving engine of the country’s reconstruction. The congress took place amid internal divisions between those loyal to the acting Prime Minister and those supporting First Vice-President Adrian Veştea, who has been designated to form the future government. Veştea said this Congress is an unstatutory and illegal initiative and did not run for the party leadership, although he initially said he would. 30% of the entire number of delegates, mainly from among Veştea’s supporters, did not attend the congress. Veştea previously called for the Congress to be postponed by one week, and his associates challenged in court the decision to organise an extraordinary National Council, where it was decided to hold a congress. However, the court set July 3 as the date for hearing the case.
Corvette. A new light corvette was handed over to the Romanian Navy on Saturday. Made in Turkey, the ship received its flag in a ceremony held in Istanbul, in the presence of the presidents of Romania and Turkey, Nicuşor Dan and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The new corvette will strengthen Romania’s contribution to regional security and to the fulfillment of commitments undertaken within the North Atlantic Alliance, Nicuşor Dan emphasised. The Turkish president said Turkish companies are producing over 50 warships, 15 of them for export. The two leaders also discussed the upcoming NATO summit to be hosted by Ankara early next month, where it is expected that the financial commitments undertaken by the member states in 2025, in The Hague, will begin to be implemented. The new Romanian corvette is the first military ship exported by Turkey to a NATO and European Union member country.
Education. The National Assessment, the exam for entering high school, begins on Monday in Romania. Almost 150,000 pupils are expected to take the written test in Romanian language and literature. The math test is scheduled for Wednesday, and pupils from national minorities will take the literature and mother tongue test on Thursday. The first results will be posted on July 1, and the final ones on the 8th. High school graduates are also preparing for exams, as the written tests of their Baccalaureate begin on June 29. The Ministry of the Interior has launched an information and prevention campaign specifically for this period, aimed at parents, drawing attention to the emotional pressure that many children go through during exams and the danger that may drive them to making impulsive decisions. (CM)
