The German State Theatre Timișoara expresses its deep concern and strong protest against the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 52/2025, which came into force on 2 October 2025. The ordinance prohibits, as of that date and until the end of 2025, the conclusion of legal commitments for a series of essential budgetary items, including expenses related to goods and services listed under the budget line “Other expenses for goods and services.”
According to Article 32 of Government Ordinance No. 51/1998 on improving the system of financing cultural programs, projects, and activities, all expenditures intended for the organization and implementation of cultural projects and programs — that is, the core activity of public cultural institutions — are recorded precisely under this budget line.
Therefore, the application of Article XVII paragraph (1) of GEO No. 52/2025 effectively results in the complete suspension of artistic activity in theatres, opera houses, philharmonics, museums, cultural centers, and all other similar institutions across Romania.
This administrative and budgetary restriction, imposed without a transition period and without exceptions for the cultural sector, paralyzes the work of cultural institutions, as the inability to make any kind of expenditure related to their core activities makes it impossible to carry out any cultural programs.
The German State Theatre Timișoara points out that this situation violates the constitutional principle guaranteeing free access to culture, as stated in Article 33 of the Romanian Constitution: “Access to culture is guaranteed,” and “a person’s freedom to develop their spirituality and to access the values of national and universal culture cannot be restricted.” Moreover, this measure contradicts the commitments assumed by Romania under the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in Paris in 2005 and ratified by Romania through Law No. 248/2006.
The German State Theatre Timișoara calls on the Government of Romania and the Ministry of Culture to urgently clarify and amend these provisions by explicitly exempting public cultural institutions — regardless of their administrative subordination — from the restrictions set forth in Article XVII paragraph (1) of GEO No. 52/2025. Without such immediate action, the entire public cultural activity in Romania risks being suspended for months, with irreversible consequences for artists, audiences, and the living cultural heritage.
Culture is not a privilege, but a constitutional right. Blocking, through an emergency ordinance, the means by which cultural institutions operate does not represent a budget-balancing solution, but rather a denial of the state’s mission to protect and promote a nation’s culture.
Lucian Vărșăndan
Manager of the German State Theatre Timișoara
Timișoara, 6 October 2025
