THE WEEK IN REVIEW
8-12 July 2025
Roxana Vasile, 13.09.2025, 13:00
4 motions of censure… The government is holding out
The coalition government in Romania survived in a single day, last Sunday, without drama, no less than four motions of censure filed against it, which allows it to continue to decide on tax increases and spending cuts. The PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR coalition executive says that only in this way can it reduce the largest deficit in the European Union, because of which the country’s rating could be downgraded to the junk category, and Brussels could continue to block billions of euros of the funds it offers. However, to avoid this prospect, the government sent to Parliament a second package of fiscal measures comprising five legislative projects with a budgetary impact of over 10 billion lei (2 billion euros). It accelerated their approval through the liability engagement procedure, which avoids lengthy debates, but exposes the cabinet to motions of censure. As the four motions of censure filed by the opposition did not pass, the four contested bills regarding health, taxation and the reorganization of state-owned companies were considered adopted. The fifth bill, uncontested in Parliament, regarding the retirement conditions of magistrates was also considered adopted. The proposed reforms bring more fairness for citizens, transparency and clear rules, and, from the middle of next year, Romania will return to a growth trajectory – promised Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. ʺYou are just playing at reform. You are not cutting at all from the privileged, but from the little man, from those who work, while you maintain the sinecures and cronyism.ʺ – the leader of the sovereignist opposition, George Simion, reproached the government. In order to be implemented, the projects must pass the check of the Constitutional Court.
A new school year marked by discontent
The Bucharest government continues to face discontent in the public sector. A first package of austerity measures adopted in June, in the name of achieving savings in the country’s budget, provided, among other things, for increasing the teaching norm of teachers, reducing the hourly rate, increasing the number of students in classes, or merging educational units with fewer than 500 students. In a sign of discontent, on Monday, the first day of the new school year, tens of thousands of teachers protested in Bucharest and across the country, denouncing an unprecedented crisis in Romanian education in the last 35 years. Pupil and student organizations announced that they support the teachers’ protest actions and denounced, in turn, the change in the scholarship granting system, which greatly reduces the number of beneficiaries, in the name of the collective effort that is required of all ordinary Romanians to reduce the deficit. The three trade union federations in Education announced that they will propose to their members the calendar and means of the next protest actions.
Inflation, where to?
Meanwhile, the annual inflation rate in Romania rose by over two percent in just one month – from July to August – and approached 10%, according to data made public on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics. This is the effect of the increase, in the summer, of the VAT quotas and the excise duty on diesel and gasoline, as well as the abandonment of the government aid scheme for paying electricity bills. Statisticians note that, in fact, in the top of price increases in the last 12 months, electricity ranks first with average increases of almost 66%. Next are price increases for fresh fruit of approximately 42%, for hygiene and cosmetic services, as well as for rail transport, ranging between 18 and 20%. Average increases were also recorded for the prices of some bakery or coffee specialties, as well as for urban transport services. Economic analysts believe that inflation will remain high, with Romanians being forced to pay, at present, for past economic policy errors. As the measures to reduce the deficit taken by the current executive have mainly included tax increases, these are reflected in inflation, with the dynamics of consumer prices set to remain high for several years.
Bucharest stands in solidarity with Poland
The Russian ambassador to Bucharest was summoned on Thursday to the Foreign Ministry to convey Romania’s condemnation of the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones during the night of September 9. The Romanian side stressed that the seriousness, implications and scope of the incident represent an unprecedented escalation, and a threat to the security of the citizens of an allied state and strategic partner of Romania, and show, once again, the broad, severe consequences of the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine, on regional stability and European security. In this context, Romania is set to benefit from investments of almost 17 billion euros through the European SAFE program to relaunch the defense industry. The total funds amount to 150 billion euros and only Poland is set to receive more than Romania, over 43.5 billion euros. We will be able to develop military equipment factories and become part of the value chains of the European defense industry – was the reaction of the Romanian government, which recalled that financing through loans with advantageous interest also covers the development of mixed civilian and military infrastructure.
Romania, spied on?
A former deputy director of the Intelligence and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova has been arrested preventively for treason. The decision was made by the Bucharest Court of Appeal at the proposal of DIICOT prosecutors. The evidence revealed that, from last year to the present, Alexandru Bălan, aged 47, with dual Moldovan and Romanian citizenship, has been involved in unauthorized disclosure of state secret information to officers within the KGB State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus, close to Russia, in conditions likely to endanger Romania’s national security. The former Moldovan officer was arrested on Monday in Timisoara (west), after an operation carried out in several states to dismantle a Belarusian espionage network.
