Budget – The leaders of the governing coalition in Bucharest are again discussing today the draft budget for 2025. These are the last calculations regarding the distribution of the state money, before the draft budget law reaches the government on Friday for adoption and Parliament next week for the vote. The largest amounts will be allocated for the payment of pensions and for the continuation of investments, while the expenses for goods, salaries and services will be reduced in all ministries and institutions, according to the finance minister. The intention is to allocate budgets to the ministries reduced by 5% compared to last year, except for the Health, Interior, Education, Transport and National Defense ministries. Investments will exceed 7% of the GDP to support economic growth and the country’s development. In the field of agriculture, the priorities remain supporting the development of the animal husbandry sector, the continuation of the INVESTALIM program and the financing of irrigation systems. The Economy Ministry will continue the massive support for entrepreneurs through the Start-up Nation and Construct Plus programs, and the defense industry will receive over 2% of the GDP this year as well. The Transport Ministry will also continue the investments, as in the previous years, which will materialize in highways, express roads and the improvement of the national road network.
Theft – New information appears around the treasure pieces belonging to Romania stolen on the night of Friday to Saturday from a museum in the Netherlands. The Dutch police announced that they had elements that show that several burglary suspects come from a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities also specify that extensive technical and tactical research has been carried out in the museum and its surroundings, and a team made up of dozens of investigators and specialists is working on the case to arrest the thieves and recover the assets. The stolen pieces are the gold helmet from Coţofeneşti and three Dacian bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia, Romanian heritage objects which are also essential parts of the history and identity of the Romanian people, an invaluable cultural heritage not only for Romania, but for the whole world, states the Romanian Culture Minister, Natalia Intotero. The minister dismissed the director of the National History Museum of Romania, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, whom she criticized for the way in which he communicated publicly and institutionally in the case of the theft of the treasure objects. We remind you that the History Museum is the one that sent the artefacts to the exhibition in the Netherlands.
Iuliu Hossu – The Romanian Academy inaugurated on Wednesday the ‘Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’, through a tribute ceremony. 2025 was established ‘Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’ by law, to celebrate his life, work, personality, martyrdom, the determining role in the making of the Great Union and the efforts he made to save the Jews during the Holocaust. A brilliant Transylvanian intellectual, Cardinal Iuliu Hossu left a mark on Romania’s history. He was arrested and imprisoned in communist prisons following his refusal to renounce the Greek-Catholic faith and his activity in defense of the Greek-Catholic believers. President Klaus Iohannis sent a message on the occasion of the Tribute Ceremony Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Year’ in which he recalls the words spoken by the cardinal – ‘Our faith is our life!’ – and said that these words could become a strong call to civic consciousness, to unity and courage, to solidarity with fellow citizens and the future of the country.
Football – Manchester United will arrive in Bucharest this evening for Thursday’s match against the Romanian football champions, FCSB, held in the eighth and last stage of the main phase of the Europa League. The famous English team holds the fourth place in the ranking, with 15 points, and FCSB is ranked 8th with 14 points. The first eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, and the teams in positions 9 to 24 play a play-off (round-return) for access to the round of 16.
Resignation – The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić (Vucici), said that he would decide in the next ten days whether he would call parliamentary elections or form a new government. The Prime Minister Miloą Vučević (Miloş Vucevici) resigned on Tuesday, after several months of anti-government protests. The rallies were triggered by the collapse of the roof of a newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, which killed 15 people. The protesters blamed the fatal accident on the corruption and negligence of the authorities and asked for the publication of all documents related to the construction and for the punishment of the culprits. The outgoing Prime Minister Vučević, a close ally of the president, was the mayor of Novi Sad when the works began.
Elections – The governing coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) in Bucharest adopted, on Tuesday, a decision that set the electoral calendar in the run up to the first round of the presidential election on May 4. The electoral period will start on February 18, and the deadline for submitting candidacies to the Central Electoral Bureau will be March 15. The election campaign will start on April 4 and end in the morning of May 3. Voting in Romania will take place on May 4, and abroad, in the 950 organized sections, for three days – May 2, 3 and 4. The Romanian voters abroad have the possibility to vote by mail, by registering on the portal www.votstrainatate.ro.
Talks – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu, discussed with the executive vice-president of the European Commission, responsible for social rights and skills, quality jobs and training, Roxana Mînzatu, about a series of important files in relation to the current European agenda. They addressed topics such as maintaining support for the EU enlargement process, continuing support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, developing a strategic vision for the Black Sea. They also discussed the promotion of convergence and cohesion objectives in the negotiations on the future Multiannual Financial Framework post-2027 or the consolidation of European action in the field of defense. The Romanian official attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and met with the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte. (LS)
