September 25, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 25.09.2025, 13:55
Defence. The Country’s Supreme Defence Council meets today for talks focusing on the security of Romanian airspace. According to a statement from the president’s office, the agenda of talks features two main subjects: establishing the sites that need protection measures against threats from unmanned aerial devices and establishing the chain of command in case of ordering and approving measures against aircraft and aerial vehicles using national airspace without authorisation. The meeting was called by president Nicuşor Dan after a number of NATO states, including Romania, reported the intrusion of Russian drones into their airspace. Recently, a Russian drone flew for around 50 minutes Romanian airspace before heading for Ukraine. Two combat planes were dispatches to monitor the situation. The pilots had the approval to open fire, but their decided not to after assessing collateral risks.
Food prices. The government is to approve today a draft emergency order to extend by another 6 months, until March next year, a cap on mark-ups on basic foodstuffs. Prime minister Ilie Bolojan said the decision was the result of talks among the ruling parties and with retail networks and producers. The government order refers to retailers in the agri-food sector and is meant to support low-income persons, who would otherwise face the risk of extreme poverty. Mark-ups on 17 basic foodstuffs will be maintained at the same level, including bread, milk, cheese, oil, eggs, potatoes and fresh fruit.
Budget. The leaders of the ruling coalition met today to discuss the budget adjustment bill. According to prime minister Ilie Bolojan, the bill will be published for public consultation on Friday and adopted by the government by Tuesday. He gave assurances that the bill ensures current payments, provides the necessary additional funds for social insurance and boosts the budget for investments. Earlier, the Social Democrat leader Sorin Grindeanu said he was hoping the coalition would reach an agreement on the budget adjustment also taking into account the 8.4% budget deficit level agreed with the European Commission. He said the Social Democrats will propose a set of economic recovery measures as part of the third package of reforms for which the government will call for a vote of confidence in Parliament. The first two packages mainly included austerity measures.
Economic growth. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has revised downwards Romania’s economic growth forecast for this year, according to its Regional Economic Prospects report published today. According to the EBRD, Romania’s GDP will see a growth rate of 0.9% this year, down from the 1.6% estimated earlier. Next year’s growth rate is forecast at 1.6%, down from 2.4% estimated last May. EBRD says Romania’s economy slowed down in 2024. Its industry, services and building sector saw a significant decline, while agriculture was severely affected by drought. In the first 6 months of 2025, the annual average growth rate was 1.4% amid slower wage growth, a deteriorating foreign balance and industrial decline. Investments rebounded after a sharp decline seen in the fourth quarter of 2024 and agriculture is expected to recover significantly this year. The confidence of the business environment was influenced negatively by the political instability in the first part of 2025 and the fiscal austerity measures adopted by the government.
Rowing. Romania today won a gold medal in the women’s pair and a silver medal in the men’s pair in the first finals held at the World Rowing Championships hosted by Shanghai, in China. In the women’s pair, Simona Radiş and Magdalena Rusu easily won the race ahead of France and the USA. In the men’s pair, Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci lost the first place to the New Zealand crew, with Switzerland in third place. Romania has 12 crews in the World Rowing Championships held in Shanghai from September 21-2 8, including the mixed double sculls and mixed eight, which have been introduced for the first time in the competition. (CM)
