October 4, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 04.10.2025, 19:24
Economy. Romania has avoided defaulting on its payments thanks to the measures recently adopted by the government, against the backdrop of a budget deficit of over 9%, low revenues and excessive spending, said Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, 100 days since taking office. He again stressed that the measures adopted so far were necessary for Romania to regain financial credibility. He went on to list some of the priorities for the immediate period, including finalising the digitalisation of the tax collection body ANAF and the customs, combating tax evasion and undeclared work, and the reform of the central and local public administration. Among the measures aimed at ensuring more employees in the real economy, he mentioned raising the early retirement age, reducing the unemployment benefit period, discouraging unjustified sick leave, and stricter rules for social spending. Only through revenue collection and cuts in operating expenses will we achieve balanced budgets and be able to finance investments to create conditions for development, the Prime Minister emphasised. He also said that economic development will be based on a series of principles, but that energy security must first be ensured, which will be achieved through the completion of hydropower and thermal power plants that are in advanced stages of construction.
Exercise. The Romanian Air Forces are carrying out complex missions across the country until next Friday, as part of the BUREBISTA 25 exercise. The missions involve the coordinated use of all air and ground weapons systems. In order to respond effectively to current challenges, the military are training based on scenarios of air defence of certain targets and prevention and reaction to hostile enemy actions to ensure the security of the national airspace. Also, between October 20 and November 13, over 5,000 military personnel from ten NATO allied states will participate in the multinational exercise DACIAN FALL 2025 (DAFA 25), hosted by Romania and Bulgaria. According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence in Bucharest, the soldiers, equipped with 1,200 technical means, come from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. The exercise will take place simultaneously in Romania and Bulgaria. The NATO exercises, including DACIAN FALL, are defensive in nature and are carried out in full compliance with the international obligations pledged by Romania, the Ministry of National Defence pointed out.
Arrest. The former mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu was detained by the Greek police near Thessaloniki airport. He has been fleeing a prison sentence, with an arrest warrant being issued in May 2022 by the Bucharest Court. Oprescu had been sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in prison for forming an organised criminal group, taking bribes and laundering money. He was arrested in Greece on May 17, 2022, but, at that time, the Greek authorities refused to hand him over to Romania. Legal procedures were then initiated to extradite the former Bucharest mayor to Romania so he could serve his prison sentence.
Handball. CS Rapid Bucharest reached the third qualifying round of the EHF European League in women’s handball after defeating the Austrian side Hypo Niederoesterreich, 30-19 on Saturday evening at home. CS Rapid also won the first leg, 32-24. They will next play the German side HSG Bensheim/Auerbach Flames, with the first leg to be held in Bucharest. Minaur Baia Mare will go straight into the third qualifying round, while Corona Braşov, another Romanian team, will go straight into the group stage. (CM)
