Romania's inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program will be celebrated on Friday in Washington D.C and Bucharest.The event in Washington D.C will take place at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the presence of the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Romania's Ambassador to the US, Andrei Muraru. During the ceremony, the representative of the US government will officially inform the representative of the Romanian state about the decision of the US authorities to admit Romania to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), communicating at the same time the technical details and the effective activation date of the new travel regime for Romanian citizens.An official event will also take place in Bucharest to mark the decision of the US authorities regarding Romania's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program. It will take place at the Victoria Palace of Government, starting at 15.00, and will be attended by the President of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.***Following the decision of the US Federal Government, Romania becomes the 43rd participant in the US Visa Waiver Program.The US Department of State confirmed on November 27, 2024 that Romania recorded a visa refusal rate of 2.61% in the fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2024), thus fulfilling one of the main requirements to be included in the Visa Waiver Program.In addition to the refusal rate criterion, Romania's access to the Visa Waiver Program required the fulfillment of essential requirements related to the security of travel documents, the exchange of information, the implementation of concrete measures to combat terrorism and illegal migration.
The National Federation of Public Administration Trade Unions (FNSA) has voiced strong opposition to a government proposal to reduce staffing levels in local public administration by 20%, warning that the move could paralyse essential services. The reform plan, published this week for public consultation by the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, envisages the […]
Romania’s economy grew by only 0.3% gross in the first half of 2025, and by 1.4% in seasonally adjusted series, according to data published Thursday, August 14, by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). In the second quarter of 2025, compared to the previous quarter, the Gross Domestic Product increased by 1.2%. Compared to the […]
The Constitutional Court of Romania could again strike down the government’s bill to reform magistrates’ special pensions on procedural grounds, G4Media.ro reported on August 13, citing Senate...
State-owned Hidroelectrica (BVB: H2O), Romania’s largest energy producer, posted a sharp decline in financial results in the first half of 2025 due to poor hydrological conditions and lower electricity prices, according to the financial results published at the Bucharest Exchange. Revenues fell 16% year on year to RON 4.3 billion (EUR 860 million), while net […]
A total of 2,751 MW of green energy projects, onshore wind and solar, will be built through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism, a state support scheme, financed through the Modernization Fund, through which energy producers have a guaranteed price for 15 years. According to information published by the Ministry of Energy, this is 1,488 […]
The average net wage in Romania increased by 7.0% y/y in June to RON 5,539 (EUR 1,097), easing to the slowest annual growth rate since November 2021, according to data published by the statistics office INS on August 13. In real terms, the annual growth rate eased to 1.3% y/y, the weakest advance in more […]
