Romania has taken several steps to enhance its measures to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including regarding targeted financial sanctions, but still needs to address several moderate shortcomings, concludes MONEYVAL in a follow-up report released Thursday. MONEYVAL finds that Romania has made limited progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies affecting the application of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on targeted financial sanctions, virtual assets and virtual assets service providers, and statistics. The report highlights that the progress made was not sufficient to upgrade the compliance ratings of the four recommendations concerned, which remain rated “partially compliant”. Out of the 40 FATF recommendations, Romania continues to be rated as compliant on seven recommendations, largely compliant on 18 recommendations and partially compliant on 15 recommendations. Romania will remain under MONEYVAL’s enhanced follow-up procedure. The country is expected to report back on its overall progress in strengthening its measures to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in May 2026.
A new CURS poll published on Sunday, June 29, shows that if local elections were held in Bucharest next Sunday, reformist party USR would obtain 27%, followed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) with 22%, and far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) with 18%. The National Liberal Party (PNL) comes in fourth, […]
Last week, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest indicted three individuals for an EUR 100 million fraud in a case involving both EU and national funds. Among those indicted is an Italian citizen, alleged to be the leader of the group, which operated between 2019 and 2024. The suspect was detained on February […]
The number of building permits for residential buildings increased by 0.6% in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with 14,134 such permits issued, according to data published Monday by the National Institute of Statistics. Increases were recorded in the Western region (+166 permits), Center (+70), North-West (+68), South-East […]
Cluj-Napoca, a major city in Romania’s Transylvania region, is taking a step toward becoming a more animal-friendly city, as a new proposal allowing pets in public institutions has been opened for public debate. Mayor Emil Boc announced the initiative, stating, “A city that is friendly to animals is a better city for people.” The draft […]
The president of S.O.S. Romania, Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, announced on Monday, June 30, that three senators were expelled from the party, effectively disbanding the party’s group in the Senate. According to the Romanian Parliament’s regulations, a party must have more than seven members to establish a group in the Senate. With the expulsion of the […]
Chinese social media platform TikTok has reportedly opened a branch in Romania, following public criticism, along with governmental and EU-level scrutiny, after Romania’s last presidential elections. The local company is called Tik Tok Romania, has a share capital of RON 5,000, and provides other IT-related service activities. It will be managed by Laura Andreea Savu, […]
