March 25, 2026

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 25.03.2026, 13:55

Fuel. The government’s adopting an emergency order on declaring a fuel market crisis  is under debate, amid tensions in the 4-party coalition  made up of PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR, as well as between the government and trade unions, while the price of petrol and diesel oil continues to rise. All five representative trade union confederations have refused the dialogue with the government at the Tripartite Council held today by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan do discuss measures to calm down price hikes. Only the representatives of the employers’ associations attended the talks. They warned that a cap on the commercial mark-up can only be applied at gas stations integrated into a complete chain, from the refinery to the pump. Traders who buy diesel oil directly have a low commercial mark-up, and a cap would bring them losses. According to sources, the prime minister told the employers’ associations that he intends to adopt the emergency order today in the version drafted by the ministries and that it is possible that next week he may come up with another order possibly related to fuel excise duties. The draft order is to be debated by the Economic and Social Council before being included on the government’s agenda. The order is expected to declare a fuel sector crisis, thereby restricting diesel exports from Romania, capping commercial mark-up for companies in the oil industry to 50% of last year’s average and creating a mechanism to prevent companies from artificially increasing the pump price for petrol and diesel oil.

Summit. An official delegation from Romania is attending in Washington, D.C. the opening  summit of a global coalition dedicated to children’s digital education, held at the initiative of the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, who extended an invitation to the partner of the Romanian president, Mirabela Grădinaru. On Tuesday, during her official trip to Washington, the latter met Lisa Choate, the president of the American Councils for International Education, an organisation that runs educational exchange programmes with Romania (FLEX and FLEX Abroad programmes), as well as professional development initiatives for the public and private sectors, according to a press release issued by americancouncils.org. The Romanian delegation also included the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, rector Remus Pricopie, and presidential advisors Diana Punga and Ana-Maria Geană. During the meeting, Mirabela Grădinaru said that Romania’s partnership with the United States is not rhetorical – it is built on trust, and trust is built on people. Every FLEX graduate who ends up working in government, the military, or public life brings knowledge about America that cannot be learned from a textbook. This is a strategic asset for both countries, and Romania’s co-investment in this programme reflects this belief.

Moldova. Moldova’s Parliament has approved a 60-day state of emergency in the energy sector after Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine disabled a power line that supplies most of the country’s energy demand. The Parliament approved the measure proposed by Moldova’s pro-European government with 72 yet votes, out of its 101. The opposition, made up of socialists and communists, refused to support the measure. The Isaccea-Vulcăneşti line supplies electricity from Romania to Moldova across 40 km of Ukrainian territory.

Iran. Washington has sent Iran a 15-point peace plan via Pakistan, in an attempt to end the conflict, media outlets have said, quoted by France Presse. The first five points concern the nuclear sector, with the US demanding that Iran never tries to acquire nuclear weapons, hand over all its enriched fuel by a date agreed by the parties and that it dismantles a number of important nuclear facilities. Iran must also give up support for its “proxies” and stop financing or arming groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Limits will be imposed on the quantity of missiles the country can possess, as well as on their range. On the other hand, the Strait of Hormuz, through which pass around 20% of the world’s hydrocarbons, must remain open to maritime traffic. In return, Iran would see its  international sanctions lifted and receive support for its civilian nuclear programme. Iran’s embassy in Pakistan has called the offer of talks a “scam” and has rejected any dialogue with Washington. The Middle East war has entered its fourth week since it was triggered on February 28 by coordinated US and Israeli attacks on Iranian territory. In response, Iran has launched waves of missiles and drones against Israel and strategic targets in the Persian Gulf and has blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

Football. The Romanian national football team will face Turkey on Thursday in Istanbul in the play-offs for the 2026 World Cup. If they win, Romania will then play the play-off final, away, facing the winner of the match between Slovakia and Kosovo, on March 31. Romania have played 8 matched against Turkey so far, winning two and drawing in four matches, according to the website of the Romanian Football Federation. Romania last qualified for a World Cup tournament in 1998, when the competition was hosted by France.