Romania is discussing with Austria on the subject of its accession to the Schengen Area, and this dialogue is also carried out by our country's European Union partners, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, declared on Monday."There are contacts with the Austrian side at all levels and this dialogue with the Austrian side is carried out not only by us, but also by our partners from the European Union. We have the support of several states. You have seen that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area on the agenda of the discussions of several European leaders, we are also discussing with the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union", said the Romanian top diplomat, appreciating that "at the moment it is important to continue this dialogue with the Austrian side and as we move forward, the conditions will be met, we can see exactly what the final approach will be." In this sense, the minister emphasized, "a political decision is obviously needed".Luminita Odobescu also spoke about the fact that some member states of the Schengen Area have strengthened border controls."Against the background of security risks, including at the European level - and we all saw what happened recently in Brussels, when two Swedish supporters lost their lives in a terrorist attack - temporary border controls between the various member states were introduced. It is a temporary measure, generated by the security risks. Moreover, several European states have raised security alerts, and for our part, we signaled to our citizens who travel to be very attentive to the security alerts in the respective countries," the minister pointed out.In this context, "the discussion about Romania's accession to the Schengen Area remains a priority on the agenda". This topic is announced on the agenda of the European Council in December."We continue the diplomatic efforts, it is too early to tell you exactly what we will do in December, but we continue to dialogue with all the partners involved in this effort, with the support of the European Commission, we also try to coordinate closely with the Bulgarian side, so it's a constant diplomatic effort and we'll see, depending on the situation at that moment, what the final decision will be," said Luminita Odobescu.
"There is no question of a nuclear dome over Romania," presidential adviser and former foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu said, commenting on the scenarios circulated about France using its nuclear umbrella to protect a larger part of the continent against the Russian threat, according to
The average net wage in Romania rose 9.7% y/y to RON 5,328 (EUR 1,070) in January, marking the slowest annual real growth rate (+4.7% y/y) since May 2023. Wages are expected to lose momentum through 2025, after the 4.4% and 7.7% advance, in real terms, during 2023 and 2024. The government’s forecasting body expects a […]
Romania’s public debt increased by 22.9% y/y to RON 964.3 billion (EUR 193.9 billion) at the end of December, after it surged by EUR 36.2 billion during the year. The public debt leaped by RON 27.4 billion (EUR 5.5 billion) in December, although the Treasury has not issued any FX bond – the increase […]
International rating agency Moody's followed Fitch and S&P in changing Romania's outlook from stable to negative, based on concerns about the fiscal situation aggravated by the political turmoil. All three major agencies rate Romania's debt at the lowest category in the investment-grade area – Baa3 in the case of Moody's. The decision to change the […]
Thousands of Romanians gathered in cities across the country and in major European capitals on Saturday, March 15, in a show of support for Romania's place in the European Union. The Euro Manifest rally took place in Bucharest, Timișoara, Arad, Oradea, Iași, and in the diaspora, including Brussels, London, and Dublin. Organizers estimated that between […]
The 2025 edition of the year’s first major film fest in Europe (and one of the biggest worldwide), the Berlin International Film Festival, took place between 13 and 23 February. My notes come with a bit of delay, as I was also hit by the festival flu that got so many of us sniffling and […]
