February 3, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 03.02.2025, 14:19
A roundup of local and international news.
DEFENSE – Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own defense in order to strengthen our strategic resilience, President Klaus Iohannis has said. The Romanian head of state is participating in an informal meeting of EU leaders on defense issues, held in Brussels today. The talks focus on military capabilities and the European defense industry. President Iohannis mentioned in this respect the need for adequate financing, regarded not only as an allocation of more money, but also as an efficient use of the instruments we already have. Regarding defense, the Romanian president emphasized the need for complementarity between the European Union and NATO. The meeting will also address issues regarding the importance of the transatlantic relationship and the Strategic Partnership between the EU and the US, the relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom, and the European Union’s defense partnerships. The debates also aim to identify basic principles needed for the development and adoption of a programmatic document related to the future of European defense – the ‘White Paper’, which is to be developed in the first part of 2025 by the European Commission.
BUDGET – Romania’s 2025 draft budget is in Parliament, to be debated in an emergency procedure. The debates and the endorsement are given as sure, with the MPs of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition forming the majority. Passed by the Government at the end of last week, Romania’s 2025 draft budget is built on an economic growth rate of 2.5%, an average inflation rate of 4.4% and a deficit of 7% of GDP. According to the Minister of Finance, Tanczos Barna, the budget prioritizes investments, with record allocations of 150 billion lei (about 30 billion euros).
EU – Attracting European funds to finance social projects for the Romanian citizens, protecting the rights and increasing the skills of workers in Romania are the topics of today’s meeting between Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for social rights, skills, quality jobs and training. Prezent in Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday, during her first official visit in this capacity, Roxana Mînzatu emphasized the openness to supporting the Romanian administration to attract as many European funds as possible. During the discussions, the two officials also referred to the debate taking place at European level on strengthening the EU’s emergency preparedness. In this context, Ciolacu said that Bucharest must be part of this debate, given the contribution that Romanian specialists have in managing such situations, such as fires and floods. On Tuesday, Roxana Mînzatu will meet with President Klaus Iohannis and will have talks with the President of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ciprian Şerban.
IMF – An International Monetary Fund mission is in Bucharest from February 3rd to 7th. The IMF team will meet with representatives of the new Romanian Government and the National Bank of Romania to review recent financial and economic developments and update the macroeconomic outlook. Romania does not currently have a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund, but the financial institution annually assesses the evolution of the Romanian economy, based on consultations on Article IV, mandatory for all member states. The purpose of the consultations is to examine the financial and economic situation at the national level and to formulate general recommendations regarding monetary, financial and economic policies to be followed, to ensure stability and positive developments in the economy.
UNIONS – The unionists at the Bucharest metro are on a Japanese strike today, to warn passengers and decision-making staff about the situation the company is in. If their demands are not met, on February 10 they will launch other protest actions. The unionists are dissatisfied with the ordinance adopted by the government at the end of last year, which canceled their negotiated salary increases provided for in the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed at the beginning of December 2024, and also with the fact that the company is underfinanced.
CRIME – Prosecutors with the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism are carrying out searches in Romania and Monaco today, in a fraud case that includes embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion, related to what the press has called the Nordis real estate business. The investigations target around 70 suspects, individuals and legal entities. Starting in 2018, three of the suspects are said to have initiated and constituted an organized crime group, which orchestrated and implemented a complex crime mechanism, consisting mainly of promoting and developing real estate projects under the cover of several commercial companies, followed by collecting sums of money from clients, misleading buyers during the execution of pre-contracts and sale-purchase contracts. The result, prosecutors say, was the unlawful gain of sums of money as reimbursements or refunds from the state budget or compensations due to the general budget, causing damage to commercial companies, purchasing clients and the state budget. The leaders of the organized crime group allegedly collected from clients as advance payment under bilateral sales-purchase promises, respectively sales-purchase contracts, over 195 million euros.
