March 20, 2026

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 20.03.2026, 13:55

BUDGET – The state budget law for 2026 has been adopted today by the Romanian Parliament’s plenary. There were 319 votes in favor, 104 votes against and one abstention. There were marathon debates that lasted until Friday morning, but the deadlock in the budget-finance committees was resolved through the intervention of the ruling coalition leaders. They found a compromise solution to the PSD’s request for additional funds for the solidarity package, namely the postponement of the payment of salary rights obtained by magistrates in court. The budget for 2026 is built on a prudent estimate of state revenues and ensures social protection for vulnerable categories, but within realistic limits, said Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. When drafting Romania’s budget, a decrease in the deficit to 6.2%, economic growth of 1% and inflation of 6.5% at the end of the year were considered.

PRESIDENCY – The President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan, was received today at the Royal Castle of Laeken by King Philippe of Belgium. The Romanian head of state has been in Brussels since Thursday, where he had a meeting, at the NATO headquarters, with the organisation’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, and participated in the European Council meeting. The agenda of talks with Rutte included security developments in the international environment and those on the Eastern Flank, with an emphasis on the Black Sea region, a context in which measures to strengthen deterrence and collective defense were addressed, as well as to increase Romania’s security through and with the support of NATO.

BRANCUSI – A retrospective exhibition that partially reconstructs the famous Parisian studio of Constantin Brâncuşi was opened on Thursday evening in Berlin. It is the first time in 50 years that an exhibition dedicated to the great Romanian sculptor is being organized in Germany, an event held under the high patronage of the presidents of Germany, France and Romania. According to the Romanian Cultural Institute, until August 9, 150 sculptures, photographs, films and archival documents from international collections, as well as objects borrowed from museums in Romania, will be presented to the public. The exhibition in Berlin is part of the Constantin Brâncuşi National Year program, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great sculptor.

FUEL – The International Energy Agency (IEA), which last week agreed to a record release of oil from strategic stocks, presented 10 measures on Friday, including teleworking, slower road speeds and avoiding air travel, to reduce the pressure that the Middle East war is exerting on hydrocarbon prices and stocks, France Presse reports. Authorities, businesses and even households can play a role in reducing demand for hydrocarbons and thus mitigate the shock caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in the Middle East in general, the IEA estimates. Based in Paris, the International Energy Agency is the main energy advisory body of the 29 most developed countries. The agency was set up in response to the first oil shock of 1973-1974, to coordinate the release of oil from reserve stocks.

IRAN – Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have shot down a US military F-35 fighter jet in the Iranian airspace. The United States confirmed that a similar aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in the Middle East, but the maneuver was reportedly carried out without incidents and the pilot is in stable condition. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that his country’s armed forces had completely destroyed Iran’s submarine fleet and significantly damaged the Islamic Republic’s military ports as part of the war waged alongside Israel against Tehran. For its part, the Israeli military confirmed that its air force had carried out an attack on key Iranian naval facilities in the Caspian Sea, the first Israeli attack on the Iranian fleet since the offensive began on February 28. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait said in separate statements on Friday that they were responding to missile attacks, while Saudi Arabia announced that it had intercepted drones, AFP reports. Also in the Gulf, missile fragments from an “Iranian aggression” caused a fire in a warehouse in Bahrain. Iran continued its attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf. (EE)