CSAT under the presidency of Nicuşor Dan: the conflict in Ukraine, tax evasion and the crisis at Salina Praid, on the agenda

The Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), led for the first time by President Nicuşor Dan, met yesterday at the Cotroceni Palace, in a meeting that lasted over three and a half hours. The meeting also marks the first participation of the members of the new Government led by Ilie Bolojan in this strategic structure.

• Key topics on the agenda

According to the Presidential Administration, the meeting focused on major topics in the field of national security, the most important of which were: The stage and prospects of the conflict in Ukraine, following the Russian aggression, and the implications for Romania; Establishing the armed forces and means that can be made available for external operations in 2026; A detailed information on the phenomenon of tax evasion, considered a threat to national security; The emergency situation created by the flooding of the Praid Salt Pan, with economic, social and environmental implications; Analysis of the activity of the National Cyber Security Directorate in 2024 and priorities for 2025. The Presidential Administration specified that other current topics in the field of national security were also addressed during the meeting.

• Extended presence at the governmental and institutional level

Among the participants in the meeting were: Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan; Ministers of Defense (Ionuţ Moşteanu), Internal Affairs (Cătălin Predoiu), Foreign Affairs (Oana Ţoiu), Justice (Radu Marinescu), Economy (Radu Miruţă) and Finance (Alexandru Nazare), Heads of Secret Services: Răzvan Ionescu (SRI) and Gabriel Vlase (SIE); Chief of the Defense Staff, Gheorghiţă Vlad; Presidential Advisor Cristian Diaconescu and Secretary of the CSAT, Mihai Şomordolea.

This first meeting of the CSAT under the leadership of Nicuşor Dan comes in a tense geopolitical context, with the conflict in Ukraine entering a prolonged phase, but also in complicated domestic conditions, marked by budgetary pressures, economic uncertainties and specific crises, such as the one at the Praid Salt Mine. The phenomenon of tax evasion was highlighted as a major risk to national security, given that the state loses billions of lei annually through non-compliance with the fiscal regime, also affecting the defense capacity and institutional functioning. Domestically, the flooding of the Praid Salt Mine, an important economic and tourist objective, raised questions related to public safety and natural risk management, requiring an integrated assessment at the highest level.

The CSAT meeting outlines the new strategic priorities under the Nicuşor Dan administration and announces a consolidated involvement of Romania in the areas of defense, cybersecurity and economic integrity. It remains to be seen to what extent the decisions adopted will translate into concrete and coherent measures, especially in the volatile regional context and growing internal challenges.

• Marius Lulea (AUR): the president is not proving to be honest

AUR First Vice President Marius Lulea stated that he did not find in the CSAT meeting agenda any point related to the cancellation of the December 2024 elections, about the banning of some candidates, he accused President Nicuşor Dan of, once again, not proving to be an honest president. Marius Lulea also stated, regarding the measures to reduce spending, that he did not see any cuts from political parties, from the number of parliamentarians and that the reform of the state must begin by setting an example and politicians should start cutting from institutions, from political positions: "Unfortunately, we looked over the agenda of the CSAT meeting and we did not see absolutely any point related to the cancellation of the December 2024 elections, about the banning of some candidates when the elections were resumed, which means that Nicuşor Dan, once again, does not prove to be an honest president, a president of all Romanians, to come and present in the public space what really happened in December 2024. Unfortunately, this is not happening and Nicuşor Dan refuses to dialogue with over 5 million voters".

The first vice-president of AUR specified that, on the other hand, the president "insists that the intelligence services be present in the institutions of the Romanian state": "We knew that Romanians vote for political parties and these institutions should be led by political parties. In this case, I am talking about ANAF and the tax evasion that Nicuşor Dan is talking about. That is, they continue to refuse to cut unnecessary expenses of the Romanian state and they are targeting entrepreneurs in Romania. But we ask ourselves a natural question, since we have a thousand entrepreneurs, the vast majority with foreign capital, large corporations, which have a turnover of over 200 billion euros, who represents the risk to national security? Because the rest of the entrepreneurs, up to 1 million and who represent Romanian entrepreneurs, hardly manage to reach cumulative turnovers of 60-70 billion euros”. Lulea stated that, in reality, tax evasion in Romania is estimated by specialists at somewhere around 10% of GDP, that is, approximately 30 billion euros, but through tax evasion, by regulating these things, no more than 3-4 billion euros can be added to the state budget. Marius Lulea also stated, regarding the measures to reduce expenses, that he did not see any cuts from political parties, from the number of parliamentarians. The politician does not understand why there is talk of cutting scholarships or increasing taxes for certain categories of pensions since we did not come to cut unnecessary state expenses at all. The First Vice-President of AUR emphasized that it is the right of the unions to take to the streets, to protest.