The Council of Europe's Venice Commission published an urgent report detailing the conditions and legal standards under which a constitutional court could invalidate elections. The report, released on January 27,

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

EU finance ministers approved Romania's deficit-cutting plan on Tuesday to bring its fiscal deficit below 3% of national output by 2030, a move Bucharest hopes will help reassure investors about its economic outlook and tame surging bond yields.

By Luiza Ilie, Gergely Szakacs and Libby George BUCHAREST/LONDON (Reuters) - Romania's attempts to restore investor confidence and lower the European Union's highest budget deficit have hit early hurdles in a year fraught with political jeopardy and the risk of losing its coveted investment-grade ratings.

The suspects allegedly hired 197 positions for a network of fake companies, in order to defraud EU and Romanian government subsidies aimed at helping the unemployed.

By Iulian Ernst in Bucharest Romania's Budgetary-Structural Plan was approved by the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on January 21, alongside similar plans for 20 other EU member states,

Romania faces mounting challenges in reducing its EU-leading budget deficit. Political instability and potential loss of investment-grade status from major rating agencies threaten to increase borrowing costs.

In January, gas supplies via the European route of the Turkish Stream reached an average daily record. The Balkans and Romania needed Russian gas. If Serbia and Bulgaria were temporarily left without supplies from Azerbaijan,

Slovakia’s right-wing government is spearheading a push to strengthen EU rules on unfair trading practices, saying the current reforms don’t go far enough.

Romania announced Thursday that it would hold new presidential elections in May, after the shock annulment of the December vote amid claims of Russian interference.

E.ON Energie Romania is one of the European Union member's biggest gas and electricity providers, serving around 3.4 million customers. MVM Group is the main energy supplier in Hungary, a 100% state-owned company, ranking as the sixth in Central Europe and it wants to acquire the Romanian firm's gas and electricity supply division.

Encouraged by his position as the coalition’s power broker, UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor (leader of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) has