March 17, 2026
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 17.03.2026, 13:55
Budget. The 2026 state budget bill this morning reached the joint finance committees of Romania’s two-chamber Parliament with amendments amounting to a change of one billion lei (the equivalent of about 200 million euros) to the figures laid down in the government’s proposal, said the liberal prime minister Ilie Bolojan. The Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, both in the 4-party ruling coalition, as well as the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (a nationalist party in opposition) have stipulated additional funds for the so-called solidarity package, which includes support measures for pensioners with low incomes and for children with disabilities or who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The funding sources identified by the Social Democrats are an increase in fuel prices and the recovery of the debts owed by companies to the budget. Liberals say that these are virtual sources, and the Ministry of Finance insists that community funds be used, so as not to jeopardise the reduction of the budget deficit, one of the highest in the European Union.
OECD. Romania may receive the invitation to join the OECD this summer, in June, before the Council meeting, said the Secretary General of the organisation, Mathias Cormann in Bucharest, stressing that, in recent decades, Romania has had strong growth, and in terms of convergence with OECD standards related to income and living standards, it has had very good results. Mathias Cormann attended on Monday the launch of an economic study dedicated to Romania carried out by the OECD, which offers important recommendations for reforms in the fiscal and budgetary fields, for the labour market and for increasing the competitiveness of the economy.
Iran. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Romania is not a protagonist in the conflict in the Middle East and that the priority of the authorities in Bucharest is the diplomatic effort to deescalate. The 2006 bilateral access agreement provides the US with the guaranteed legal framework to use military bases in Romania on a continuous basis, the ministry stated. Previously, Iran had warned Romania that it could be politically and legally liable after allowing the United States to use bases on its territory for operations against Iran.
Oscar. Director Natalie Musteaţă, the winner of an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film this year with the film Two People Exchanging Saliva, will open the American Independent Film Festival to be held in Bucharest, from June 5-7. The first Romanian-born filmmaker to win an Oscar, she will take to the festival stage in an open talk about the experiences that changed her personal and professional life, as well as the path that led her to the Oscar. (CM)
