Romanians protest cost of living in latest European action

By NICOLAE DUMITRACHE AND STEPHEN McGRATH
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Several thousand protesters in Romania have joined an “anti-poverty march” in the capital of Bucharest to express dismay over the rising cost of living. The action Thursday is the latest protest in Europe over high prices and pay that workers say hasn’t kept pace with inflation, including hundreds of university professors in Albania. The march in Romania has been organized by the National Trade Union Confederation, Cartel Alfa, which said the cost of energy, food, and other essentials is spiraling and sending millions of workers into poverty. Protesters jeered, honked horns and some waved Romania’s flag. They demanded that the government increase salaries and pensions and enact price controls.