2018 in Romania

Incumbents

Events

January

• 15 January – Prime Minister Mihai Tudose resigns after his Social Democratic Party leaders withdraw their support following a party feud.
• 20 January – Tens of thousands of people protest in Romanian cities and abroad against amendments to the laws of justice and criminal codes.
• 29 January – The Romanian parliament approves Viorica Dăncilă as the country's first female premier. She is the third prime minister of Romania in less than 13 months.

  February

• 22 February – Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announces that he will initiate the revocation procedure of Laura Codruța Kövesi from the post of chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate. The announcement is followed by protests in several major cities in the country.

  April

• 5 April – Nine people die after their minibus plunges into Bistrița River, near Viișoara, Neamț County.
• 11 April – Three tourists are found dead in Făgăraș Mountains after going missing since 30 March.
• 16 April – President Klaus Iohannis refuses to dismiss the chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruța Kövesi, also criticizing the report on which Justice Minister Tudorel Toader proposed the revocation of Kövesi. Toader announces that he will refer the Constitutional Court.
• 17 April – Former President Ion Iliescu is officially prosecuted for crimes against humanity for his role in the 1989 Revolution, alongside former Prime Minister Petre Roman.
• 19 April – President of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea announces Government's intention to move Romania's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

  June

• 9 June – More than 100,000 people assemble in Bucharest to protest alleged abuses committed by anti-corruption prosecutors. The protest is organised by the governing Social Democratic Party.
• 21 June – Liviu Dragnea, head of the Social Democratic Party, is convicted of abuse of power and handed a three-and-a-half-year sentence in an initial verdict after a corruption trial.
• 27 June – Dăncilă Cabinet survives a motion of no confidence. During the vote, several thousand opposition supporters protest outside Parliament, calling for the resignation of the government.
• 30 June – Four people are found dead and hundreds are evacuated from 185 flooded localities as hydrologists issue red flood warning in the counties of Covasna, Brașov and Bacău.

  July

• 1 July – Celebrating the centenary of the Great Union, a demonstration called the Centenary March is organized by several Romanian and Moldovan activists for unification. It starts in Alba Iulia on this day.
• 9 July – President Klaus Iohannis dismisses the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruța Kövesi.
• 11 July – Four people, including two children, are found dead after their cart is washed away by a flash flood in Tulcea County.

  August

• 10 August – Violence ensues between anti-government protesters and the Romanian Gendarmerie in Victory Square, resulting in hundreds of people wounded and the complete evacuation of the square.
• 29 August – Participants of the Centenary March cross the Moldovan border.

  September

• 1 September – The Centenary March ends in the Great National Assembly Square in Chișinău, Moldova.

  December

• 19 December – The main indexes of Bucharest Stock Exchange fall by more than 7 percent following the announcement of new taxes on banks, capping gas price and major changes regarding private pensions scheme. The two major banks listed at BSE lose more than 15 percent of their value.

  Arts and entertainment

• 24 February – Touch Me Not, directed by Adina Pintilie, wins the Golden Bear prize for best film at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.
• 27 March – The 12th edition of the Gopo Awards: Daniel Sandu's One Step Behind the Seraphim is awarded best film, best director, best actor and best screenplay.
• 5 April – Ioan-Aurel Pop, rector of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, is elected president of the Romanian Academy.
• 10 May – The Humans represent Romania in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal. For the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals, Romania's representatives fail to qualify for the final.
• 9 June – The largest edition to date of Bucharest Pride attracts about 10,000 people.
• 3–14 July – The 59th International Mathematical Olympiad is held in Cluj-Napoca.
• 2–5 August – The 4th edition of Untold Festival is held in Cluj-Napoca.

  Sports

• 9 June – Simona Halep wins her first Grand Slam title after defeating American Sloane Stephens in the French Open.

  Deaths

January

• 2 January – Garabet Kumbetlian, 81, intellectual, professor, engineer and researcher
• 10 January
• * Lucky Marinescu, 83, singer and television presenter
• * Nicolae Edroiu, 78, academician and historian
• * Ștefan Papadima, 64, mathematician
• 11 January – Elisabeta Isanos, 76, writer
• 23 January – Attila Verestóy, 63, politician
• 24 January – Ion D. Ion, 82, mathematician
• 25 January – Neagu Djuvara, 101, historian, diplomat, philosopher, journalist and novelist

  February

• 10 February – Andrei Avram, 87, linguist
• 13 February – Florin Diacu, 59, mathematician
• 14 February – Zoltán Kallós, 91, folklorist
• 16 February – Arsenie Voaideș, 67, Orthodox archimandrite and abbot of Berzunți Monastery
• 19 February – Paul Urmuzescu, 89, composer
• 28 February – Ștefan Tașnadi, 64, weightlifter

  March

• 4 March – Traian Sabău, 76, politician
• 9 March – Ion Voinescu, 88, footballer
• 13 March – Geta Caragiu, 88, sculptress
• 19 March – Andrei Gheorghe, 56, presenter and programme-maker
• 25 March – Nicolae Tilihoi, 61, footballer
• 27 March – Aimée Iacobescu, 71, actress
• 28 March – Octavian Dincuță, 70, footballer

  April

• 1 April – Justin Andrei, 84, engineering geologist and geophysicist
• 6 April – Șerban Papacostea, 89, historian
• 11 April – Carmen Stănescu, 92, actress
• 14 April - Mihai Stănescu, 78, caricaturist
• 15 April – Nicolae Mischie, 73, politician
• 16 April
• * Florea Dumitrescu, 91, economist, finance minister, ambassador of Romania to China and governor of the National Bank
• * Nicolae Mischie, 72, politician
• * Ionela Prodan, 70, folk music singer
• 24 April – Dinu C. Giurescu, 91, historian and politician

  May

• 1 May – Constantin Olteanu, 89, general, Minister of National Defense and Mayor of Bucharest
• 4 May – Doina Cornea, 88, publicist and anticommunist dissident
• 15 May – Cristian Țopescu, 81, sports commentator, journalist and politician
• 16 May – Lucian Pintilie, 84, director
• 21 May – Mircea Malița, 91, academician, diplomat, mathematician, professor and essayist
• 22 May
• * Cabiria Andreian Cazacu, 90, mathematician and honorary member of the Romanian Academy
• * Mircea Malița, 91, academician, diplomat, mathematician, professor and essayist
• 25 May – Hildegard Puwak, 68, politician

  June

• 3 June – Alexandru Jula, 83, singer
• 11 June – Maria Butaciu, 78, folk music singer
• 20 June – Sándor Kányádi, 89, poet
• 21 June – Gernot Nussbächer, 78, historian, archivist and writer