222 Portuguese soldiers from all three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces left Figo Maduro airport early this morning on a NATO mission to help bolster the ‘south-eastern flank’ of the Alliance in the context of the war in Ukraine, https://www.portugalresident.com/ informs. The ‘Força Nacional Destacada’ (Deployed National Force) of men and women was due to have taken part in a NATO ‘Tailored Forward Presence’ mission in Romania (which borders Ukraine) during the last three months of this year. Russia’s invasion however brought the plan forwards. The contingent’s mission involves ‘enhanced Vigilance Activities’ or eVA, which Portugal’s head of the Armed Forces Admiral Silva Ribeiro described as designed to “affirm the cohesion and determination of the Allies, and increase NATO’s readiness to dissuade a possible aggression on its territory”. The 222 include a ‘motorised infantry reinforced with Stinger anti air missiles, and a team of ‘special Ops’ forces. The military flew from Portugal to Greece, where they were reunited with dozens of armoured vehicles, including Pandurs and VAMTACs, transported ahead of them last week. The rest of the journey is being made overland, with the soldiers joining those of other countries in southern Romania, roughly 600 km from Odessa (Ukraine). President Marcelo, the minister of defence and a number of high-ranking military were at the send off at 6.30 this morning, with Prime Minister António Costa sending a message, in which he said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “requires a clear statement of NATO’s deterrent force”, as it is “a grave violation of international law”. “It cannot be repeated often enough: any possible aggression against a NATO-allied country is an aggression against all of us”, the PM added, stressing the ‘sense of duty’ in Portugal being involved in such a mission. President Marcelo made a point of shaking the hands of all the soldiers setting off today after a brief speech stressing the defensive role of Portuguese troops. “An alliance that does not attack is prepared to prevent, preserve and defend peace. This is also your mission”, he told them.
Participation in cultural education activities continues to be limited, with the main barriers being difficult access, insufficient knowledge, and cost, the recently released Cultural Consumption Barometer 2024 shows. The report showed that many Romanians still associate culture with entertainment rather than with personal development or furthering their knowledge. The need for relaxation dominates in cultural […]
Roughly 84% of Romanians say that the pace of the state’s digitalization is slow or very slow, according to an Edge Institute & AtlasIntel study presented at the Digital Governance Summit 2025, which took place on Tuesday, November 25, at the presidential palace in Bucharest. The survey aims to capture the way citizens relate to […]
Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch. CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]
Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]
