March 30, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 30.03.2026, 19:53
Fuel price. A government working group met on Monday to discuss a new set of measures to limit the rise in fuel prices. No decisions were made, but different scenarios were presented. The main option under consideration is reducing the excise duty on fuel. Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said earlier that state intervention would be limited due to budget constraints. Last week, the government adopted an emergency order declaring a fuel market crisis from April 1 and adopting a series of measures until the end of June. Among others, the order provides for a cap on markup to the average level in 2025 across the entire chain, from refining to final sale, limiting diesel oil and crude oil exports and penalties of up to 10% of turnover for businesses that do not comply with the new rules.
Energy. EU energy ministers will discuss by videoconference on Tuesday how to coordinate their responses to disruptions on global energy markets as a result of the Iran war, according to an internal EU document on the meeting, Reuters reports. European Union finance ministers met in Brussels on Friday to discuss rising energy prices. European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU economy faces the risk of stagflation as a result of rising energy prices following the Iran war.
Motion. The Senate rejected on Monday a simple no-confidence motion against the environment minister Diana Buzoianu, with 45 no votes, 41 in favour and one abstention. The signatories of the motion from among the nationalist opposition accuse the minister of blocking energy projects, the water crisis in two counties in southern Romania and her handling of the issue of landfills. The Save Romania Union, the party minister Buzoianu is a member of, rejected the criticism leveled by the initiators of the motion and accused the Social Democratic Party of repeatedly violating the collaboration protocol within the ruling coalition. The Senate previously debated another simple motion against Diana Buzoianu in December last year.
EU Commissioners. The European Commissioners Roxana Mînzatu and Apostolos Tzitzikostas are on two separate visits to Romania. The European Commission’s vice-president for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness Roxana Mînzatu on Monday met president Nicuşor Dan and prime minister Ilie Bolojan and had talks with the joint labour committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The meetings focused on current EU priorities in the areas of competitiveness, security, cohesion and education, as well as the implementation of EU programmes in Romania. On Tuesday, Roxana Mînzatu is due to meet education and research minister Mihai Dimian and attend a number of different events. During his visit to Bucharest on Monday, the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, met Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, discussing issued such as fuel prices, interconnection projects in the transport sector, military mobility and the development of the future European strategy for sustainable tourism. The meeting was also attended by transport minister Ciprian Constantin Șerban and economy minister Ambrozie-Irineu Darău. On Tuesday, Apostolos Tzitzikostas is to be received by President Nicuşor Dan.
Poll. The sovereignist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, in opposition, would get 33% of the votes if elections were held in Romania next Sunday, followed by the Social Democratic Party with 24% and the National Liberal Party with 16%, according to a survey conducted by the Center of Urban and Regional Sociology, CURS. Next in the ranking comes the Save Romania Union with 9% and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania with 5%. Also, 80% of respondents said they believed their country is heading in the wrong direction, and 17% said it was the right direction. The survey used a sample of 1517 adults, representative at national level, and was conducted between March 23 and 27.
Football. Assistant coach Ionel Gane will be heading the Romanian national football side during the friendly they are playing against Slovakia in Bratislava on March 31st, after manager Mircea Lucescu was admitted to hospital on Sunday. The sport publications in Bucharest note that the match in Bratislava would have been the last in the brilliant career of the 80-years-old manager. Romania were eliminated by Turkey from the World Cup qualifying play-offs in Istanbul on Thursday night, after losing nil-1.
