April 26, 2025 (update 15.00)

The latest from domestic and international news

Newsroom, 26.04.2025, 15:23

Funeral. Dozens of heads of state and government, including Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and senior Romanian state officials, along with over 180 official delegations from around the world, attended today in Rome the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88. Hundreds of thousands of Christians paid their last respects to the one who led the Catholic Church for the past 12 years. The service in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals. At the end of the service, Pope Francis’ coffin was transported by a papal hearse to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, the final resting place of the former Pontiff. Thousands of believers gathered along the 6-kilometer funeral route and applauded as the papal hearse passed. The Vatican announced that those wishing to visit the tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore will be able to do so starting Sunday. As a sign of respect for the total openness and warmth constantly shown to Romanians by Pope Francis, the Government in Bucharest has decreed a day of national mourning today.

Talks. Leaders present in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral could hold a series of meetings dedicated to peace in Ukraine. Paris, however, has announced that French President Emmanuel Macron will not be involved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he would like to have a meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the Vatican, but announced that he was not sure if he would be able to attend the Pope’s funeral. For now, the US president welcomed the results of the talks held in Moscow by the special envoy for Ukraine, Steve Witkoff. In an interview with “Time” magazine, Trump stated that the occupied Crimea peninsula would remain Russia’s, a condition included in the peace plan discussed by his envoy in Moscow. At the same time, the White House leader accused President Zelensky of prolonging the war by rejecting negotiations with Vladimir Putin, while European leaders accused Putin of dragging out negotiations and trying to capture more Ukrainian territory in the meantime. Administration officials in Washington have warned that they may soon abandon efforts to end the war if Moscow and Kyiv do not reach an agreement.

Ruling. The High Court of Cassation and Justice has definitively settled the situation created by the unprecedented ruling of the Court of Appeal in Ploiesti (southern Romania), which ordered, on Thursday, the suspension of the CCR decision from December by which the presidential elections were annulled. The judges of the supreme court admitted the appeals filed by both the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor’s Office against this ruling, practically annulling the approach of the judge in Ploiesti, which created numerous controversies. The argument of the High Court was that challenging a decision of the Constitutional Court in administrative litigation is inadmissible, no court in Romania having the authority to judge or suspend CCR decisions. In its appeal against the decision of the magistrate in Ploieşti, the Court reacted harshly, accusing the court in question of violating the fundamental law. At the same time, it stressed that the independence of a judge does not justify the failure to respect the Constitution in a state governed by the rule of law. Judge Alexandru Vasile, who suspended the CCR decision at the Ploieşti Court of Appeal, argued that it came too late and violated its own previous decisions, including the validation of the first round of voting. He stated that the alleged frauds invoked by the Court do not directly concern the voting process or the establishment of the results, but rather the electoral campaign and its financing. In the meantime, the Central Electoral Bureau announced that the procedure for electing the President of Romania is continuing. The first round will be held on May 4, and the second on May 18.

Budget. Romania’s budget deficit reached 2.28% of the Gross Domestic Product in the first three months of 2025, 0.24 percentage points higher than last year, according to data published by the Ministry of Finance. The increase in the difference between revenues and expenditures is a worrying signal, economists believe, given that this year, Romania must reduce the deficit from 9.3% to 7% of the GDP. The state thus spent, in the first three months, 44 billion lei (over 8.8 billion euros) more than it collected. Total revenues amounted to 141 billion lei (about 28.3 billion euros), registering an increase of almost 7%, supported by the growth in current revenues, mainly the tax on wages and income, insurance contributions, excise duties and non-tax revenues. At the same time, expenditures stood at almost 185 billion lei (approximately 37.1 billion euros) and increased in nominal terms by 10.1%, compared to the same period last year. Finance Minister Tánczos Barna said that the data reflect the first results of the measures taken by the Government to restore the budget balance and specified that the reduction of spending and the increase in investments in the economy must continue.

Justice. Romanian senators will debate, next week, the draft law that modifies the retirement rules in the justice system. The document is to be debated on Monday by the Senate, as a decision-making forum. The Permanent Bureau decided on an accelerated calendar for the analysis and vote on this draft law, initiated by the leaders of the governing coalition in Bucharest. Thus, the project will quickly receive the opinions and report of the specialized committees, and on Monday it will be submitted to the vote in the Senate plenary. On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies adopted, as the first forum notified, the normative act stipulating that the retirement age of magistrates will increase to 65 years, starting January 1, 2026. Also in the Senate, on Monday, the simple motion submitted by the sovereignist opposition party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) concerning the Minister of Labor, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, will be debated and voted on. She is expected in the plenary to respond to criticism regarding the problems in the pension system. Also, at the Chamber of Deputies, members of the specialized committees are expected to make a decision on the legislative initiative that establishes measures to protect real estate developers’ clients.

Arrest. The Russian security services (FSB) claim to have arrested a Romanian citizen suspected of spying for Ukraine in Sochi, in the south of the country. Russian authorities have stated that, last summer, the Romanian allegedly collected and transmitted to the Ukrainian secret services data on the locations of air defense systems in the city of Sochi. Russian media has published a video recording made by the FSB in which two of its agents arrest a man and immobilize him on the ground. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has announced that it is closely monitoring the situation of the Romanian detained in the Abkhazia region four months ago and transferred to Sochi. Romanian diplomacy states that it has already taken steps to grant consular protection and assistance to the central and local authorities, in accordance with international norms. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has informed that it is in contact with the family of the person in question. (MI)