November 17, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 17.11.2025, 20:00

ELECTIONS – Monday was the last day to submit candidacies for the partial local elections on December 7 in Romania, including for the general mayor of the capital Bucharest. So far, nine candidates have officially entered the race. The electoral campaign will start on Saturday. According to the latest survey published by CURS, the mayor of District 4, Daniel Băluţă (PSD), leads the preferences of the Bucharest electorate for the seat of general mayor, with 27% of the options, followed by the mayor of District 6, Ciprian Ciucu (PNL) and Cătălin Drulă (former USR leader), both with 22%. All three are candidates from a ruling party. The junior partner in the four-party Government, UDMR, with the electorate concentrated in the center and west of the country, is not participating in the elections in the south. According to the results of the sociological research, in fourth place in voting intentions, with 15%, is the independent candidate Anca Alexandrescu, a controversial figure who presents herself as a journalist and is supported by AUR, after, in the last 20 years, she advised PSD leaders, some of whom later ended up behind bars for acts of corruption. Regarding the assessment of the general direction of the city, the majority of Bucharesters believe that things are going in the wrong direction. Over half of the respondents – 55% – express this opinion, while 41% believe that the city is heading in the right direction. Regarding the problems identified in the city, road traffic is in first place, being mentioned by 20% of the respondents. Right after this is the functioning of state hospitals, indicated by 19%, followed by the district heating network with 18%. Corruption in local administration is mentioned by 13%, and air pollution by 7%, the survey also shows. Among the former general mayors, Traian Băsescu, later head of state, is perceived as the most efficient by 27% of respondents, followed by the current PSD MEP Gabriela Firea, with 25%, and the current President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, with 21%.

MOTION – The simple motion initiated by AUR (the populist, ultranationalist opposition) against the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Ciprian Șerban, entitled ”The Railway Lost the Train” was rejected, on Monday, by the Senate in Bucharest. There were 28 votes in favor and 65 against. The initiators claim that Romania is in the penultimate place in Europe in terms of railway performance. Also on Monday, the Chamber of Deputies rejected another simple motion, also submitted by AUR against the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, and entitled ”Romania in the Dark – the Scheduled Bankruptcy of the National Energy System”. There were 88 votes ‘in favor’, 193 ‘against’ and seven abstentions. AUR claims that the Ministry of Energy has failed in all the ‘fundamental’ dimensions of the act of governance: planning, execution, research, sovereignty and consumer protection. Romania has the highest energy prices in the EU, compared to real purchasing power, the signatories of the motion argue. On the other hand, Minister Ivan said that Romania could have, by the end of next year, an installed power of approximately 2,200 megawatts after the Mintia and Iernut power plants become operational, and storage capacities of almost 2,000 megawatts.

ALERT – There is a state of alert in Tulcea County, in eastern Romania, after a ship loaded with liquefied petroleum gas, anchored in the Ukrainian port of Ismail, was hit by Russian drones and caught fire. Romanian authorities evacuated several people from two nearby villages. The Inspectorate for Emergencies (ISU) provided means of transportation, but the action was carried out with difficulty, because people do not want to leave their households. In addition, road traffic and ship traffic on the Danube have been suspended in the area. Locals in the eastern part of the country, in the regions near the border with Ukraine, regularly receive alert messages due to the danger posed by drone attacks by Russian invaders on the port infrastructure in Ukraine.

DEFENSE – Romanian President Nicușor Dan convened the meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council (CSAT) on November 24, in Bucharest. According to the Presidential Administration, the agenda includes topics related to the National Defense Strategy for the period 2025 – 2030, the Strategic Defense Analysis and the Report on the activities carried out and the results obtained at the national level, in the first seven months of 2025, for the prevention and combating of drug trafficking and consumption, a risk to national security in Romania. At the same time, the assessment of risks, threats and vulnerabilities to Romania forecast for 2026 and the Consolidated Report on Romania’s participation in the NATO Crisis Management Exercise ‘CMX-25’ is also under discussion. The CSAT meeting will also analyze other current issues in the field of national security, the Presidential Administration says.

WEAPONS – The Presidents of France and Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskky, have signed a letter of intent regarding a contract for the purchase of high-performance French weapons by Ukraine. Zelensky travelled to a military base near Paris, where, together with Macron, attended a meeting with French defense industry manufacturers, who presented their offer. The President of Ukraine said that the letter of intent provides, among other things, for the purchase of 100 Rafale multirole fighter jets, among the most efficient currently on the global arms market. The agreement is seen as a success for President Emmanuel Macron, who has been campaigning for almost 10 years for Europeans to opt for the purchase of military equipment produced in the EU. The French president believes that the states of the community bloc must give up the position of simple clients of the United States of America in order to strengthen their defense industry and build their own sovereignty.

FORECAST – The European Commission on Monday published the autumn economic forecast for the European Union, which details the situation of each member state. In the case of Romania, Brussels believes that the measures taken by the government in Bucharest were essential for financial stability, but they will have social costs. Austerity will be felt by both companies and the population in the first 2 years, with the positive effects expected to appear in 2027. Thus, Romania’s GDP will grow by only 0.7% in 2025, by 1.1% in 2026, but is expected to exceed 2% in 2027. Throughout this period, fiscal measures will put pressure on population and state consumption, but will be balanced by private investments, those financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and solid exports. The Commission estimates that Romania’s record deficit, 9.3% of GDP in 2024, should fall to 8.4% this year, 6.2% in 2026, and below 6% of GDP in 2027. The Commission says that an important element in this positive trajectory is not only increasing revenues, but also reducing state spending. One question mark for the Commission, however, is inflation, which could remain above the National Bank of Romania’s target, at least until 2027. Another concern is unemployment, which would exceed 6% in 2025, but which could recover throughout 2026. (EE)