VIDEO Ilie Bolojan, announcement after the meeting with Ursula von der Leyen. The government makes a commitment regarding European funds

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan met on Thursday, in Brussels, with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during the discussions held by the two leaders agreeing that Romania's requests regarding payment requests 3 and 4 from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) will be analyzed before the final decision of the Community Executive. “We are committed to effectively use EU funds to support the relaunch of economic growth,” the prime minister said at the end of the meeting.

“Very good discussions with Ursula von der Leyen, who appreciated the reforms adopted by the Government. In relation to the PNRR, the Prime Minister presented the current situation regarding milestones related to magistrates' pensions and decarbonisation”, the Government said in a press release.

“It was agreed that they will analyze our requests, with a view to the Commission's final decision regarding payment requests 3 and 4. We will have an answer in the first part of March”, the Government mentioned, according to Agerpres.

After the meeting, Bolojan also posted a message on the X social network, in which he states: “Very good meeting with President Ursula von der Leyen, to discuss the progress made by the Government of Romania in terms of the budget, reforms and investments. We are committed to using EU funds effectively, to support the relaunch of economic growth.”

Very good meeting with the President @vonderleyen to discuss the Romanian Government's progress on budget, reforms, and investments.

We are committed to efficiently using EU funds to support the relaunch of economic growth.

I welcomed the recent initiatives of the @EU_Commission to… pic.twitter.com/mqD7tGbYbJ

— Ilie Bolojan (@Bolojan) February 26, 2026

In the context of the meeting with the head of the Community Executive, the prime minister also presented the progress in the implementation of the SAFE program, as well as the appreciation of the financial instruments that the Commission develops and makes available to the member states for the development of their own defense industries.

At the same time, the head of the Government welcomed the initiatives regarding development and economic resilience intended for the member states on the eastern flank.

In the same context, the head of the European Commission appreciated the fact that Romania remains on the budgetary path to reduce the deficit, the way in which the SAFE program is implemented, as well as the efforts made to propose projects within EastInvest.

During his visit to Brussels, the prime minister had meetings with the executive vice-president of the European Commission, Roxana Mînzatu, commissioner for social rights and skills, quality jobs and training, and with Valdis Dombrovskis, European commissioner for economy and productivity, implementation and simplification.

“During the meeting with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Roxana Mînzatu, the Prime Minister of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, emphasized that the absorption of funds from the PNRR is a priority for the Government. The main challenges are aimed at meeting the assumed milestones and accelerating the pace of project implementation, the main objective being the unblocking of the European funds allocated to Romania. Aspects from the field of social policies were also addressed. In this sense, opportunities were explored for attracting funds from the European Social Fund Plus (FSE+), the Government also sent.

Also, the prime minister specified that, next week, the Executive proposes to complete the discussions on the national budget, in the context of wider debates on the future budget framework.

The government had announced that the prime minister would support Romania's priorities for the future EU budget after 2028, which is now in full negotiation, before the leaders in Brussels. According to the Executive, during the visit from Belgium, Bolojan was going to focus on preserving the funds for agriculture and the cohesion policy, but also on increasing economic competitiveness.

The preparation of the Prime Minister's working visit to Brussels included a discussion with President Nicușor Dan and a last minute meeting, on Wednesday evening, with the MEPs of the Coalition. The Prime Minister thus sought to align domestic priorities with the European agenda.