Romanian Academy Launches New Council Amid Budget Crisis & Leadership Change

The Romanian Academy announced Tuesday the establishment of the Romanian Academic Council (CAR) in partnership with the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. The move comes as Ioan Aurel Pop nears the end of his second and final term as president of the Romanian Academy, scheduled to conclude on April 5th.

The CAR will unite the Romanian Academy and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, alongside four Romanian branch academies: the Academy of Juridical Sciences, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the “Gheorghe Ionescu-Șișești” Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, and the Academy of Technical Sciences, according to a press release.

The launch ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 10:00 AM in the Aula of the Romanian Academy, where the leadership of the new organization will be elected.

The Romanian Academy states that the CAR will focus on developing analyses, studies, and recommendations on major issues of public interest, and will foster a common space for Romanian science and culture integrated into European and international knowledge networks.

Ioan Aurel Pop’s attempt to enact legislation allowing for unlimited terms as president of the Academy was unsuccessful in parliament. Sources within the institution have indicated to G4Media that Mircea Dumitru, former rector of the University of Bucharest, is a leading candidate to succeed Pop. Dumitru previously faced allegations of collaboration with the communist Securitate, but won a definitive court ruling against the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) in 2025, as reported to G4Media.

According to the Academia Romana website, Ioan-Aurel Pop is a historian and has been President of the Academy since 2018. He was a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh, INALCO Paris, the University of Trento, and the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. He also served as director of the Romanian Cultural Center in New York and the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice.

The establishment of the CAR occurs amid a period of budgetary constraints in Romania, as reported by G4Media. The timing of the announcement, just before the end of Pop’s presidency, has drawn attention to the future direction of the Academy.