Foreign Minister in Bucharest: Focus on football and business!

Foreign Minister in Bucharest: Focus on football and business!

Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger will begin a two-day visit to Bucharest on Sunday. The reason for this is the upcoming World Cup qualifier between Romania and Austria, which will take place on Sunday evening in the “Arena Națională”. This event expects up to 55,000 spectators and symbolizes the sporting relations between the two countries. On this occasion, the minister will also accompany three students from the Graz high school who were victims of a shooting spree. Their visit was organized by the Romanian Football Association as a sign of solidarity. According to oe24, the minister will also meet her Romanian counterpart Oana Țoiu on Monday to discuss security and economic issues.

Austria is the second largest foreign investor in Romania with a share of 11.7%. In order to further expand economic relations, a business breakfast and an investor meeting with Austrian companies are being planned. These discussions take place against the backdrop of Romania's current economic growth, which was 0.3% in the first half of 2025. However, the country remains below its economic potential, while a total of 1.4% real GDP growth is forecast for 2025. Other plans include a visit to OMV Petrom's Petrobrazi refinery, where a new sustainable fuels plant is scheduled to be operational by 2028. This will have a production capacity of up to 250,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel per year.

Political situation and economic challenges

The political situation in Romania is characterized by various developments. As Wikipedia) informs, Oana Țoiu was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 23, 2025, which represents her first major challenge as Romania currently has to deal with a high budget deficit and security exchanges. The budget deficit of 9.3% in 2024 represents a serious challenge that also influences EU policies. Given this, the forecast risks to growth include high inflation and political uncertainty, exacerbated by previous Russian influence on Romanian politics.

The election of pro-European mayor Nicușor Dan was welcomed as a step to fight corruption and strengthen political stability. Analysts, including Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), expect that there will be greater investments in Romania from the second half of 2025, especially from German companies that are primarily involved in the automotive and electrical industries.

In view of the upcoming EU funding from autumn 2025, it is expected that the country will be able to modernize its infrastructure by building highways, railways and electricity networks as long as the budget deficit is reduced. Despite the challenges, Romania remains an important partner for Austrian investors and European projects.