August 25, 2026

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 25.08.2026, 13:55

Moldova. Moldovan president Maia Sandu has invited the Romanian president Nicușor Dan and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to attend the events marking the 35th anniversary of the Republic of Moldova’s independence on Thursday, August 27, Radio Chișinău has reported. The events include a military parade, with over 2,000 troops expected to participate. The Republic of Moldova proclaimed its independence on August 27, 1991, when its Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence.

Wage bill. Romanian President Nicușor Dan is today holding further talks on the public sector wage law with the leaders of the parties from the former ruling coalition. The consultations are aimed at reaching a political agreement on this reform, which is a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and a condition for the disbursement of over 770 million euros. The deadline for Parliament to pass the law is the end of August, but no political consensus has yet been reached. Social Democrat leader Sorin Grindeanu believes there is very little chance that the bill may be passed by August 31, given the lack of a unified position among the ministries of labour, health, and education. So far, only the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, who are in the governing coalition, have said that they are endorsing the bill. The country’s five major trade union confederations have joined forces and firmly reject the latest version of this piece of legislation.

Letter. On Monday, the leaders of two major pro-European political groups in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, the President of the European People’s Party, and Valérie Hayer, the President of Renew Europe, sent a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They warned that releasing the 770 euro million tranche from the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Romania could undermine democracy due to the recent legislative amendments to the country’s integrity law. According to the Romanian media, the European officials are calling for urgent intervention by the Commission before August 31, the deadline for meeting reform milestones. At the heart of the complaint is the so-called “Fritz amendment” introduced to the integrity law by a majority formed by the Social Democratic Union and the ultra-nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians PSD-AUR and recently upheld by the Constitutional Court. The measure provides for the automatic termination of the mandates of local elected officials and dignitaries found to be in a conflict of interest or in a state of incompatibility prior to the new law’s entry into force. Weber and Hayer emphasise that the amendment was specifically drafted to target the mayor of Timișoara and leader of the Save Romania Union Dominic Fritz, constituting a clearly unconstitutional retroactive measure and weaponising  legal mechanisms for political ends. The letter points to a direct violation of EU law, arguing that Dominic Fritz is a German citizen elected in Romania based on rights conferred by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Protest. A number of trade union federations in Romania staged a two-hour protest on Tuesday morning outside the Ministry of Labour, demanding an increase in the minimum wage starting January 1, 2027, and the unblocking of collective bargaining at both sectoral and national level. According to a statement by the Cartel Alfa National Trade Union Confederation, the two demands are inherently linked, as an adequate minimum wage cannot be established solely through administrative decisions but rather through collective agreements that raise wages above the statutory minimum level. Unions argue that the stalling of collective bargaining threatens Romania’s ability to increase coverage through collective bargaining contracts in line with European objectives and the provisions of the Directive on adequate minimum wages.

Ukraine. The European Union has announced the release of a new tranche of over 6 billion euros for Ukraine to enable it to strengthen its air defences and procure missiles and ammunition. This tranche is part of a 90-billion-euro package granted to Kyiv by Brussels, 60 billion of which is designated as military aid. Ukraine’s ambassador to Bucharest, Ihor Prokopchuk, emphasised that the war started by Russia is not only an existential threat to Ukraine but also a threat to the freedom and democratic way of life of all European nations. Prokopchuk highlighted the important role played by neighbouring Romania as a key partner for Kyiv in areas such as security, energy, transport and infrastructure, regional development and European integration. (CM)