February 12, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 12.02.2025, 19:49
Ceremony. Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, ended his term in office on Wednesday at noon in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Bucharest. He announced his resignation on Monday, against the background of an impeachment procedure initiated in Parliament. The two terms to which Klaus Iohannis was entitled should have ended on December 21 last year, but he stayed in office after the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential elections due to suspicions that they had been interfered with. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets, dissatisfied with the decision of the Constitutional Court judges. Political analysts believe that, with the resignation of Klaus Iohannis, the tensions in society accumulated in the last months will decrease. A 65-year-old ethnic German, former physics teacher and former mayor of the city of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis leaves the presidency with an extremely low popularity rating. The interim president is, as of Wednesday, Senate speaker and president of the National Liberal Party Ilie Bolojan. He will be interim president until May, when the presidential elections are scheduled.
EU funding. “To continue to develop Romania, we must catch up with the delays in the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. 2025 and 2026 are defining years”, said prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, who chaired a meeting of the Interministerial Committee for the Coordination of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The government said in a statement that it will closely monitor compliance with the deadlines to attract European funding under the Plan, in the run-up to renegotiations with the European Commission of the targets and milestones undertaken. The meeting held on Wednesday in Bucharest was also attended by the director general of the European Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Task Force, Celine Gauer. The latter said a change of approach is needed in the 18 months Romania has at its disposal to make sure it attracts the EU funds it is entitled to. The government’s statement also notes that the European official expressed her readiness to support the Romanian side in its efforts, pointing out that although progress was indeed made, there are still targets and milestones that have not been achieved. She also gave assurances that the stage of implementation would be assessed by the Commission in an objective and transparent manner.
Ukraine. US president Donald Trump said on social media that he held a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which they agreed to start negotiations regarding Ukraine “immediately”, France Presse reports. “We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump posted. The Kremlin said the Russian president said during talks with his American counterpart that he wished to find a “long-term solution” to the Ukrainian conflict through “peace talks”.
Cyber. In 2024, Romania was the target, alongside other European states, by “sabotage” actions specific to Russia’s arsenal of hybrid tactics, says DIICOT, Romania’s body in charge of fighting organised crime and terrorism in its activity report for last year. The purpose of these attacks, the Directorate also says, was to test the defence of NATO countries and find weaknesses in their infrastructure. From 2022, at least 50 incidents have occurred in 13 different countries in Europe that may have been Russian hybrid operations, the report also notes. These include cases of espionage, diversion, vandalism, cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and attacks on underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Romanian prosecutors also say that Russia changes its tactic in the way it launches its hybrid attacks, no longer sending agents to the NATO countries, but recruiting random contractors on chats in the Telegram app in exchange for money. The Directorate says Romania is not faced with any terrorist threats.
Defence. Defence minister Angel Tîlvăr met his Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles Fernandez at the Mihail Kogălniceanu army base in Constanta county, in the south-east. The two officials hailed the level of cooperation between their countries’ armies, which has improved recently, both in bilateral and allied format, in the context of a strategic partnership between Romania and Spain. The two ministers also discussed the current security situation, the consolidation of the allied posture on NATO’s eastern flank and the latest security developments in the Black Sea area. “Spain’s firm commitment to Romania’s security, as reflected in its active participation in NATO missions in Romania, is clear proof of the cohesion and strength of our alliance”, Angel Tîlvăr said.
Forests. Romsilva, the Romanian forestry body, will be reorganised from top down, says environment minister Mircea Fechet after talks with trade unions in the field. The minister said the current proposals to amend the status of forestry workers and a government decision to reorganise the company would eliminate the inequalities existing within Romsilva. Trade unions staged a protest on Wednesday to protest against the media campaign initiated by the ministry against Romsilva and demanded that forestry management bodies should be freed of political interference and that trade unions should be consulted by the government when drafting legislation that affects their activity.
Football. Romanian football champions FCSB will on Thursday be facing the Greek champions PAOK Thessaloniki, which are managed by Romania’s Răzvan Lucescu, in the first leg of the play-off match for the Europa League round of last 16. The return match will take place in Bucharest, on February 20. PAOK and FCSB already met this season also in the main phase of the competition, with Romanian side winning in Thessaloniki 1-0. FCSB finished the main stage in 11th place and PAOK in 22nd. The eight best-placed teams go straight into the round of last 16, while those in places 9-24 go into play-offs to advance to the next stage.
