December 3, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 03.12.2025, 19:50
Visit. Romania’s Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan is paying a two-day official visit to Austria, at the invitation of Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker. On his way to Vienna, he stopped in Budapest for talks with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban. After the meeting, the Romanian official said it was a pragmatic discussion about developing interconnections in the electricity sector. The main goal of the Romanian prime minister’s visit to Austria is consolidating bilateral relations and closer cooperation on a regional and European level, given the current challenges in the region. Cooperation in the economic sector will also target other areas where there is a potential for a growth in investments on both markets. According to a statement from the Romanian government, talks will also focus on Austria’s support for Romania’s entry into the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Corvette. The Romanian defence ministry announced on Wednesday that it signed the contract for the acquisition of a HISAR-class light corvette from the Turkish Government. The total purchase price, according to the contract, is 223 million euros excluding VAT, and, apart from the cost of the vessel itself, it also covers the cost of personnel training and a logistical support package. The HISAR-class corvette is part of the Romanian Naval Forces’ equipment program aimed at ensuring the capability to perform missions to protect critical maritime infrastructure, as well as patrol and combat missions. The ship has a length of 99.5 meters, a crew of 104 sailors and a combined diesel-electric propulsion system. It has an autonomy of approximately 4,500 nautical miles, being able to operate for up to 21 days without returning to port.
Car registrations. New car registrations saw a significant increase of 36% last month compared to the same period of 2024, according to the Romanian Carmakers Association. First place in the ranking is held by domestic producer Dacia, followed at a considerable distance by Toyota and Skoda. In total, however, new car registrations in the first 11 months of this year were slightly down, by about 1% compared to the same period last year, exceeding 135,000 units. By contrast, second-hand cars recorded a notable increase of over 10%, with 30,000 more units registered in the first 11 months compared to the same period of 2024.
Book fair. The 32nd edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania, got under way on Wednesday in Bucharest. Until Sunday evening, over 180 participants will be exhibiting their products, including all the country’s prestigious publishing houses, distributors of Romanian and foreign books, university presses and higher education institutions, as well as music distributors. Public access is free of charge. (CM)
