October 1, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 01.10.2025, 20:21
SUMMIT European leaders convened in Copenhagen on Wednesday for an informal meeting on defending the union’s airspace, after military planes and drones had violated this space, one of the victims being the host country, Denmark. High on the agenda was the issue of consolidating the common defence capabilities as well as providing additional aid to Ukraine. The head of the Danish government, Mette Frederiksen, believes a strong response is needed to the hybrid war waged by Russia and urged the Europeans to rearm and be innovative in terms of defence. In turn, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the support to Ukraine. “If we all agree that Ukraine is our first line of defence, we have to step up military support for Ukraine. This is the reason why today we are disbursing 4 billion Euros for Ukraine and we have to increase the pressure on Russia,” von der Leyen went on to say. Romania has been represented in Copenhagen by its President Nicusor Dan.
BUDGET The budget adjustment approved by the government on Wednesday will ensure the state’s obligatory payments, salaries, pensions, benefits, social and medical services, maintain funding for development and investment projects and guarantee the payment of interest rates on foreign loans, says finance minister Alexandru Nazare. Based on a budget deficit of 8.4%. compared with an initial estimate of 7%, the budget adjustment bill provides for cuts, as well as additional funding for some ministries and public institutions. The ministries of finance, labour, development, agriculture, energy, the environment, the economy, education and justice will see increased budgets, as well as the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Permanent Electoral Authority and the National Sanitary and Veterinary Authority. The ministries of investments, healthcare and home affairs and the Government’s General Secretariat will see their budget slashed. The president’s office said it will return to the state budget some 3.5 million euros of the budget allocated for this year in order to contribute to the collective austerity efforts.
MEETING Romania’s Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan on Wednesday held talks with the president of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu. The two officials tackled the political situation in the former soviet republic after the latest Parliamentary election, in which the pro-European Party of Solidarity and Action, PAS, emerged as winner. During the meeting the two officials also tackled issues like the continuation and expansion of the connectivity and cross-border cooperation, stepping up the bilateral economic relations as well as Romania’s staunch support for the Republic of Moldova’s EU accession. In a Facebook post, Igor Grosu has underlined the special character of the relations between the two countries and has voiced gratitude for the constant support offered by Romania, one of the staunchest supporters of the Republic of Moldova’s European future. In turn, the president of the Senate in Bucharest, Mircea Abrudean, has highlighted during his meeting with the Moldovan official that Romania will continue to support the Republic of Moldova so that its EU integration may become reality in the following three years.
DEFICIT Romania is confronted with the highest budget and current account deficits, the Romanian Association of Banks has warned. However, the country is on the right track to fiscal consolidation, said the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Jeroen Clicq, on Tuesday, after a meeting with the Romanian Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan. The IMF official said that political stability is needed in order to implement the measures taken by the government and that the Fund supports the continuation of reforms. The Romanian prime minister emphasized that the measures, although much criticised, are instrumental to ensuring fiscal stability and reducing social imbalances and inequalities. An optimistic message was also sent by the country’s President, Nicuşor Dan. He said Romania is close to achieving its deficit target for next year and that the measures already taken by the government would bring the deficit level down from 8.4% this year to around 6.5% in 2026, thus approaching the 6% target Romania has committed to before the European Commission.
ENERGY The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest has endorsed a draft through which Romania gets in line with the European objectives of transitioning to green energy. The Pact envisaged by the European Commission ensures the mobilization of over 100 billion Euros for supporting the production of green technologies in the member states. The European Commission underlines that transposing the directives in the Green Energy Plan into the national legislation of the member states will contribute to lower energy prices and rising economic competitiveness.
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