Romania

BELGRADE - Belgrade's Partizan advanced to the final stage of the European Water Polo Champions League tournament after a Preliminary Rounds Day 8 home win against Romania’s Oradea 9-7 (5-1, 2-1, 1-4, 1-1) late on Wednesday.

Clinching its fifth victory in Group B, Partizan is now tight in third place and has secured its spot in the Final Six.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has said his centre-left government will not revoke a controversial fuel tax coming into force on April 1, but promised compensatory measures.

“The measure will help ‘fair' transporters, without a history of tax evasion, who will be able to recover most of the costs [of the new tax],” Ponta said, without offering further details.

Russia's federalisation plan for Ukraine sparks criticism

The West supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and calls for united actions against Russian interference.

Russian soldiers storm a Ukrainian military air base in Belbek, Crimea, on March 22nd. [AFP]

Romania's President Traian Basescu asked Prime Minister Victor Ponta to revoke a fuel excise coming into force on April 1.

In a letter, Basescu wrote that introducing the excise would "put an exaggerated and pointless pressure on the economic environment and on the consumers," as Romania's AGERPRES quoted him as saying.

Following a number of technical delays, the Bulgaria-Romania gas grid interconnection will start functioning in June, according to Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev.

Speaking Wednesday at a conference on natural gas, Stoynev claimed that the delay had been caused by a collapse of the ground below the Danube River, adding that the problem had been dealt with.

A great part of 78% of Bulgarian citizens never exercise or play sport, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey on sport and physical activity.

41% of Europeans exercise or play sport at least once a week, while 59% of EU citizens never or seldom do so, according to the survey.

Europe's 400 million internet users face a geographic lottery regarding the price, speed, and range of choice of broadband, according to data released Wednesday.

Dorin Cioaba, the self-proclaimed King of the Gypsies in Romania, says he is ready to take on the controverial tradition of marriages in the low teens.

The 43-year-old graduate in law has said that Roma should not get married until they are at least 16.

Greece has experienced more deaths from flu than any other European country this year apart from Spain, whose population is more than four times larger, according to the latest figures measuring the virus’s impact.

Bulgaria ranks 47th among 160 countries in the World Bank's Logistics Performance report for 2014, compared to a better 36th position in 2012.