Romania's finance minister promises budget report and details NATO defence financing talks

Report timing depends on ministry data

Alexandru Nazare, Romania's finance minister, said on Monday evening, 9 November 2026, that the report on the country's financial situation will be made public in the second half of the week. The document was requested by the PSD and by Prime Minister Luca Niculescu, and it is in an advanced stage of preparation. Its release still depends on every ministry transmitting its data. Nazare said his team would integrate the reports as they arrive and present the document in a way that clarifies the debate about the country's finances. He told Antena 3 CNN that the report would be complete, credible and balanced.

“We are preparing a report on the country's financial situation, which will be a complete report, a credible report, a balanced report.”

Budget execution and borrowing costs

The report was requested as the PSD accuses the budget of having a 'hole', which it blames on the government led by Ilie Bolojan. Nazare argued that budget execution is a national interest rather than the property of any ministry or party. He warned that any uncertainty about public finances could affect Romania's financing costs. He also named the level of interest rates as one of the most relevant indicators of the country's economic situation, saying it reflects Romania's performance beyond the effects of international crises.

“Romania's budget execution is a national good. It is not a ministry's, it is not a party's, it is Romania's.”

Eurogroup talks with NATO on defence funding

Nazare said that on Monday he took part in Brussels in an inclusive-format Eurogroup meeting dedicated to defence financing. There he held a dialogue with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Czech finance minister Alena Schillerová and Italy's minister of economy and finance Giancarlo Giorgetti. In a Facebook post he wrote that security and defence are shared interests of all European states, and that investments by frontline states protect the whole of Europe. According to Nazare, Rutte raised the security of the Black Sea and the growing risks to navigation and trade. Nazare added that the efforts of frontline states should be backed by adequate financing mechanisms, and he stressed the importance of military mobility for the eastern flank.

Moldova Motorway and defence investment

Nazare named the Moldova Motorway (A7) as the clearest example of dual-use infrastructure, serving both civilian and military purposes. He said the road will link Bucharest and the port of Constanța with the border with Ukraine and, via the A8, with the Republic of Moldova. He said the project's financing had been secured over the past year by moving the motorway from the loan component to non-repayable funds under the PNRR. Romania also obtained 4.2 billion euro through the SAFE programme for strategic sections of the Pașcani-Suceava-Siret and Moțca-Iași-Ungheni motorways. He said these investments form part of the commitment made at the NATO summit in The Hague, up to 1.5% of GDP for defence and security investment including infrastructure, and that Romania argued that infrastructure, not only equipment, should be recognised under the defence flexibility of EU fiscal rules.