February 5, 2026 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 05.02.2026, 20:36

CORRUPTION – The former Romanian Minister of Transport, Alexandru-Răzvan Cuc, was sent to trial by anti-corruption prosecutors (DNA) on Thursday, in the case in which he is accused of having brokered a bribe of over 1 million lei for the general director of the Romanian Automotive Register. A businessman was also sent to trial in the same case. Also on Thursday, prosecutors searched the headquarters of the Bucharest’s District 3 City Hall in a case of abuse of office. According to judicial sources, the investigation concerns the manner in which the District 3 City Hall built, with public money, a road on the private property of mayor Robert Negoiţă’s brother. “As long as that road is public and can be used by any citizen who needs it, I think it is absolutely normal for public roads to be built with public money,” the mayor said in a press conference. Negoiţă argued that he built public roads without expropriating, because the necessary urban planning documents have been blocked for over 4 years at the General City Hall, with which he is in dispute.

ECONOMY – The Romanian Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, presented, on Thursday, in the government meeting, the measures provided for in the economic recovery package. Nazare specified that the instruments to support companies are being modernized, introducing new concepts and new financing methods, so that Romania can increase its level of competitiveness and the chances of attracting foreign investments and developing large Romanian investments. One measure concerns loans granted to support research and development. The Government also wants to make the facility for reinvested profits more attractive. On Friday, the project will also be discussed with the social partners within the Tripartite Council, the Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has announced. He has also said that the difficult period of budgetary adjustment is over and Romania is entering the economic recovery phase.

TENNIS – British tennis player Emma Răducanu qualified on Thursday for the semi-finals of the Transylvania Open (WTA 250) held in Cluj-Napoca (northwest). The player, who has Romanian origins and is the competition’s main favourite, defeated the Polish Maja Chwalinska in two sets, 6-0, 6-4. Raducanu will compete for a place in the final with the Ukrainian Oleksandra Olinikova, who defeated the Chinese Xinyu Wang, 6-4, 6-4. Răducanu met Olinikova in 2018, in the first round in Nanjing (W15), winning with the match in two sets.

PENSIONS – The contribution to the 2nd pension pillar in Romania is to increase to 5.25% this year and to 6% next year, according to a bill tacitly adopted by the Senate in Bucharest. The initiators, deputies of the National Liberal Party, part of the ruling coalition in Romania, said that in the last 15 years the economic and financial crises have prompted the governments to postpone the annual increase in individual contributions to this pillar, although all demographic forecasts showed that, after 2030, the state pension system, that is pillar 1, will have great difficulties in ensuring a decent rate of salary replacement through pension. At the same time, they also said that the 2nd pension pillar requires strong support considering that a lot of people will request this right in approximately 5-10 years. The bill will now be sent to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this case.

PRESIDENCY – Romania is a strong democracy, and the decision to cancel the presidential elections at the end of 2024 was an internal legal act, to protect the constitutional order in the face of an asymmetric threat, President Nicuşor Dan has said. The decision was based, the President says, on the assessments of the national security institutions and on the authority of the Constitutional Court. In a reaction to the preliminary report of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, which speaks of interference by the European Commission in the electoral processes of the EU member states, the President states that the references to Romania are strictly contextual. Nicuşor Dan claims that Romania’s commitment to the rule of law, transparency, freedom of expression and the fairness of electoral processes remains unwavering. (EE)