February 13, 2026
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 13.02.2026, 13:55
Economy. Romania’s economy grew by 0.6% in 2025, but was in technical recession at the end of the year, after its GDP fell two quarters in a row, by 1.9% in the fourth quarter compared to the third, according to data published today by the National Institute of Statistics. In the third quarter, Romania’s economy shrank by 0.2% compared to the previous quarter. In October last year, the International Monetary Fund estimated that Romania’s economy would grow by up to 1% in 2025, while in its January report the World Bank forecast a growth rate of 0.8% in 2025. In the last report published in November last year, the European Commission lowered its economic growth forecast for Romania to 0.7%.
Conference. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Radu Miruţă, is leading the Romanian delegation to the Munich Security Conference held between 13 and 15 February. The delegation also includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oana Ţoiu, and the Director General of the Cyber Security Directorate, Dan Cîmpean. The agenda of this year’s edition of the Security Conference features transatlantic security, strengthening European cooperation in defence matters, innovation and new technologies with an impact in the area of defence, as well as the adaptation of international cooperation instruments to new strategic realities. On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Radu Miruţă will participate in plenary sessions and thematic meetings dedicated to cooperation within NATO and the European Union and will attend bilateral meetings with counterparts and officials from allied and partner states.
Radio Day. World Radio Day is celebrated today, in appreciation for this means of information and culture. 1946 saw the first broadcast of the United Nations radio station and UNESCO decided to mark this date as a day of international cooperation among broadcasters and to encourage decision-makers in accessing information through radio stations around the world. The initiative to establish World Radio Day belongs to the Spanish Radio Academy, was proclaimed in November 2011 by the 36th General Conference of UNESCO and ratified by the UN General Assembly in January 2013. In Romania, National Radio Day is celebrated every year on November 1, marking the day when, back in 1928, the public radio station was inaugurated and the first broadcast went on air.
Coalition. The Social Democratic Party has once again publicly criticised the approach to reform by its other three partners in the ruling coalition, namely the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. In a statement, the Social Democrats called on their coalition partners “to abandon the simplistic policy of austerity and support the introduction of real structural reforms that take into account the social and economic realities in Romania”. The Social Democratic Party says that reducing budget spending is necessary, but that the government must take into account the characteristics of each economic sector in order to avoid serious blockages in critical public sectors. In its latest meeting on Thursday, the government again failed to adopt the draft reform of the central and local public administration and a package of economic support measures. In fact, the administration reform is further causing tensions in the coalition. The draft needs the approval of ten ministries, but there are officials who are reluctant to sign it. (CM)
