November 11, 2026
A selection of national and international news.
Newsroom, 11.11.2026, 13:55
PRESIDENCY – President Nicuşor Dan warned at a press conference on Tuesday that reducing the budget deficit is essential, as Romania cannot afford to have its sovereign credit rating downgraded. The head of state explained that he had ruled out early elections as a way of overcoming the political deadlock in order to prevent an economic collapse. On the other hand, Nicuşor Dan rejected the suggestion that the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Save Romania Union (USR), with possible support from him, could have taken over government, as they did not have a parliamentary majority. He also explained that he had opposed bringing AUR, the nationalist-populist opposition party, into government because this would have created economic, institutional and security vulnerabilities. In response, AUR accused the president of creating divisions in society through his statements. Meanwhile, USR leader Dominic Fritz said in a social media post that press freedom is not a favor granted to journalists, but the foundation of democracy. His statement came after the president announced that one of the journalists present would no longer be allowed to attend his press conferences because of insulting remarks made to him.
POWER PLANT– Unit 2 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant in south-eastern Romania has been synchronised with the National Energy System and is expected to reach full capacity on Thursday, 12 November. Both reactors at the Cernavodă plant were shut down this summer due to the extremely low water levels on the Danube caused by prolonged drought. Following a shutdown lasting approximately three and a half months, Unit 1 was restarted last week, but was disconnected from the National Energy System once again after a technical fault which had no impact on nuclear safety. Plant specialists are working to repair the fault so that the unit can resume operations as soon as possible. The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant normally accounts for 20% of Romania’s electricity consumption.
VETERANS DAY – Romania’s Ministry of National Defence is organising military and religious ceremonies in Bucharest and across the country to mark Veterans Day, observed annually on 11 November. According to the Ministry of National Defence, internationally, the date marks the entry into force, in 1918, of the Armistice between the Allied Powers and Germany, which brought the First World War to an end. For the Romanian Armed Forces, the day also has a particular significance, as on 11 November 2003 Second Lieutenant Iosif Silviu Fogaraşi became the first Romanian serviceman to be killed in action in Afghanistan. Between 1996 and 2022, Romania lost 31 servicemen during missions in theatres of operations, while more than 200 others were wounded.
FINANCE – Maintaining Romania’s sovereign credit rating depends on the quality of the country’s next budget, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said on Tuesday. He said he did not want to introduce new taxes, but stressed the need to cut spending. He referred to the abolition of the minimum turnover tax as of 1 January 2027, reducing bureaucracy and exercising stricter control over public expenditure. Alexandru Nazare announced that the report on Romania’s financial situation, requested by both the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Prime Minister Luca Niculescu, would be made public in the coming days.
MOTION – The Senate in Bucharest today rejected a simple motion against Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare. In the document, AUR, the nationalist opposition party, draws attention to a difference of more than 28 billion lei (over 5 billion euros) between the budget deficit reported by the Finance Ministry and the figure calculated according to the European methodology for the first six months of 2026. The motion’s signatories are asking the Finance Minister to explain what the actual budget deficit is. They are also calling for Romanians to have access to a complete picture of public finances and explanations of the discrepancies between budget indicators, given that the population and businesses are bearing the burden of fiscal measures.
ENERGY – The Energy Ministry’s number one priority is to ensure that Romania gets through the winter safely, and current reserves guarantee this, says Energy Minister Dumitru Chisăliţă. According to him, Romania is among the top five European countries in terms of natural gas storage levels. However, the way companies in the sector manage their stocks is essential to ensuring that supplies remain sufficient, particularly during the second half of the winter. Dumitru Chisăliţă also reiterated that his ministry is preparing measures to support vulnerable household consumers as well as businesses. While gas prices are capped until the spring of next year, the electricity market has been fully liberalised, and Romania has the highest electricity prices in Europe.
MOURNING – Bulgaria is observing a day of national mourning today after 12 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a chain-reaction crash involving 86 vehicles on Tuesday. The accident occurred in dense fog on the motorway linking the capital, Sofia, to the city of Burgas. A Romanian citizen was among those injured. Representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Bulgaria are monitoring the situation and are ready to provide consular assistance. (EE)
