European Commissioner-designate for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, on Tuesday evening expressed his hope that Romania and Bulgaria will fully enter Schengen Area, as decision belongs to member states [of the Justice and Home Affairs Council - editor's note]."Of course that the member states are to decide who enter Schengen and who doesn't. There has been made extraordinary progress, if I may say so, in the cases of Romania and Bulgaria, and they are already in the Schengen Area, although just partially. However, as I've found out this morning, Austria is maintaining a very good dialogue with Romania and Bulgaria. Discussions continue and I am positive, or at least this is my approach, that this dialogue will bring a full integration of Romania and Bulgaria as soon as possible. Of course that there is much talk in my country on this topic too, but this is my opinion. And I am glad that discussions were increasingly frequent between the foreign affairs ministers and the presidents," the Austrian Commissioner said at his hearing in the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).He answered thus to a question addressed to him by a Bulgarian MEP related to the decisions taken in the recent month by several Schengen states to reintroduce border control."A better management of migration means a balanced and determined approach, which means that we decide who comes in Europe and under what circumstances, and not the so called guides," underscored Brunner. He mentioned that a priority would be to apply the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is scheduled to come into force in 2026, with the EU member states to play an important role in its adoption.According to the Commissioner, some of this Pact's elements are to be implemented even before 2026, while observing the balance between "responsibility and solidarity."The Austrian politician announced that, if he would be validated as Commissioner, in the first half of next year he will draft a new European Internal Security Strategy, with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation Europol, which needs to be consolidated, to play an essential part in it.Another topic he tackled was that related to the external border, as Magnus Brunner underscored the need for strengthening the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, and informed the EU Executive that he is going to propose tripling the number of Frontex employees, up to 30,000.
Romania has signed a major contract with France for the acquisition of Mistral portable short-range air defense missile systems. The agreement was concluded on Tuesday, November 25, between Romania’s Ministry of National Defense and France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans, through their respective General Directorates for Armaments. The acquisition is valued at EUR […]
The European Parliament called on November 26 for EU-wide rules to strengthen the protection of minors online, recommending a minimum age of sixteen for accessing social networks, video-sharing platforms, and AI chatbots, according to a statement from the institution,
The government of Romania will be empowered to establish, ex officio or upon request, by Government Decision, an extended surveillance regime over local companies strongly affected by economic sanctions imposed by other states, according to the legislative project prepared by the government, given that the situation of the assets held by the Russian giant Lukoil […]
The European Commission (EC) will reportedly give Romania four more months to appoint permanent management under competitive procedures at 48 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the energy sector, after the Romanian government agreed to double the fine paid by the country and the penalties charged to those responsible (ministers) if the milestone set under the Resilience […]
The Romanian banks boasted in 2025 virtually the same record aggregated net profit as in 2024, namely RON 11.6 billion (EUR 2.3 billion, -0.6% y/y) in January-September and RON 6.2 billion (EUR 828 million, -0.3% y/y) in Q3 alone, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio has […]
The Romanian Parliament approved the National Defense Strategy on Wednesday, November 26, with 314 votes in favor, 43 against, and three abstentions, following a joint session attended by president Nicușor Dan. The document will guide national security policy for the 2025-2030 period. During the parliamentary debate, Ana Maria Gavrilă, leader of the opposition party POT, […]
