August 27, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 27.08.2025, 14:00
GOVERNMENT The leaders of Romania’s ruling coalition have reached an agreement on most of the provisions in the second set of public spending cuts. Today there will be a new round of negotiations on fiscal measures, including those recently proposed by the finance minister Alexandru Nazare. The measures included in the second set aim at better regulation on corporate profit shifting, increased taxes on stock market gains, new rules for the taxation of rental income. The new measures to reduce the public deficit are expected to be approved by the government in a special meeting on Friday, with the prime minister likely to go to Parliament early next week to take responsibility for this budget reform set. PM Bolojan has taken responsibility before Parliament for a first set of fiscal-budgetary measures.
PROTESTS Many courts and prosecutor’s offices throughout Romania announced they would suspend work indefinitely until the government withdraws the bill on magistrates’ pensions included in the second set of measures to reduce the budget deficit. The only exceptions will be activities in the criminal cases in which pre-trial detention has been or is expected to be ordered. Magistrates urge the authorities to stop what they call an aggressive campaign against the judiciary, and claim that the government’s plans to cut magistrates’ pensions and increase their retirement age is a diversion aimed to distract the public opinion from other measures taken this year in order to reduce the budget deficit. Meanwhile, teachers continued to picket the education ministry headquarters. It is the 19th day of protests against measures announced by the government that bring several changes to the education system. They include increasing teachers’ workload by 2 to 4 hours of teaching per week, merging over 500 schools, and cutting hourly pay rates by over 50%. Trade unions in public education have suggested boycotting the start of the school year on September 8, as a form of protest.
MOLDOVA Romania remains a steadfast supporter of the ideals of the Republic of Moldova and of the Romanians across the River Prut, PM Ilie Bolojan said on Wednesday, in a message sent on the 34th anniversary of the proclamation of the neighboring state’s Independence. “The unique bond of language, culture, history and traditions has created a space of friendship and solidarity between our states. Romania’s firm, applied and multidimensional support for the European course of the Republic of Moldova is, therefore, the natural step of our fraternal relationship,” the PM added. The president of France Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor Friedrich Merz and the Polish PM Donald Tusk are in Chisinau today, in what AFP describes as a symbolic show of force, intended to demonstrate support for the Republic of Moldova and its pro-European president, Maia Sandu, in the face of what they consider to be Russian ‘threats’ and ‘interference’. Macron, Merz and Tusk intend to reaffirm their support for Moldova’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also support the country’s ‘European course’ amid the EU accession negotiations opened in June 2024. On September 28, decisive parliamentary elections will be held in the Republic of Moldova. In this context, Russia’s pressure on Chisinau has steadily increased in recent months, with unprecedented interference by the Kremlin in the electoral processes in Moldova in an attempt to prevent the country from joining the European Union, Radio Chisinau comments. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a congratulation message on Moldova’s Independence Day, stating that the US and the Republic of Moldova share a clear commitment to building a safer, stronger and more prosperous future.
ENESCU FESTIVAL Janoska Ensemble, which blends classical virtuosity with improvisation and playfulness, opens the ‘Enescu in Control’ series at Club Control in Bucharest on Wednesday. The ‘Enescu in Control’ project is a novelty for the George Enescu International Festival, an opening towards a cultural space that has become a landmark venue of alternative music in Romania. Also on Wednesday, the Belcea Quartet and the Leonkoro Quartet will perform at the Romanian Athenaeum as part of the Enescu Festival, while the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra performs at the Palace Hall in the Romanian capital city. Founded in 1945, the Philharmonia Orchestra is widely acknowledged as one of the great orchestras in the world. The 27th edition of the ‘George Enescu’ International Festival takes place in Bucharest and throughout the country until September 21. This year, the event is themed ‘Celebrations,’ in the context of marking 70 years since the death of the great Romanian composer George Enescu.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea qualified for the second round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year, after defeating Argentina’s Solana Sierra in straight sets on Tuesday in New York. This was Cîrstea’s 8th consecutive victory, after she won the WTA 250 tournament Cleveland. In the second round, she will face the Czech player Karolina Muchova. Another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian, defeated Danielle Collins (US) in straight sets in the first round on Tuesday, and will play against another American, Ashlyn Krueger, in the second round. (AMP)
