The finance ministers of Spain and four other European countries are urging the European Union to impose a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, concerned that surging oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran will fuel inflation and strain households.
Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Saturday that his counterparts from Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria had signed a letter to the European Commission citing “market distortions” caused by the price spike.
“The conflict in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise, placing a significant burden on the European economy and on European citizens,” the letter, dated Friday and made public by Cuerpo in an online post, said.
“It is important to ensure that this burden is distributed fairly,” it added.
Europe is largely dependent on imported oil and gas, leaving it vulnerable to external shocks. In 2022, turmoil in energy markets following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine pushed inflation into double digits in many European countries.
At the time, the EU imposed a “solidarity contribution” that included caps on excess energy profits.
“Given the current market distortions and fiscal constraints, the European Commission should swiftly develop a similar EU-wide contribution instrument,” the letter said. “It would also send a clear message that those who profit from the consequences of the war must do their part to ease the burden on the general public.”
Driven largely by higher oil prices, the annual inflation rate in the 21 countries that use the euro rose to 2.5% in March, from 1.9% in February.
Iran has blocked most tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and gas — in a move that threatens to stress fuel markets for months.
European Union Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen warned this week that disruption caused by the closure means fuel prices are unlikely to “go back to normal in a foreseeable future.”
Gas prices are displayed near a ferris wheel in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone strikes on Ukraine overnight killed five people and injured 30 more, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.
The attacks came as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Russia fired 286 drones at Ukraine overnight, 260 of which were downed, the Ukrainian Air Force said in an online statement.
Five people — three women and two men — were killed in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and 19 others, including a 14-year-old girl, were wounded, head of the regional military administration Oleksandr Hanzha said. The attack damaged market stalls and a shop.
In the city of Sumy, not far from the border with Russia, a strike injured 11 people, including a 15-year-old, the National Police said. Residential areas were hit, and houses, cars and utility networks were damaged in the attack.
In the capital, Kyiv, a drone strike caused a fire on the first floor of a three-story office and warehouse building, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. No casualties were reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that its forces fired “long-range air- and ground-based precision weapons, as well as strike drones” at unspecified “military-industrial and energy facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
In a separate statement, the ministry said that the Russian military overnight shot down 85 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions, the annexed Crimea region and the Black Sea.
In Russia's Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, one person was killed and four sustained injuries, according to the region's governor, Yuri Slyusar. The attack sparked a fire at a warehouse facility of an unspecified logistics company, and another fire on a dry-cargo vessel flying a foreign flag several kilometers from the shore, Slyusar said.
In the Samara region's city of Tolyatti, one person was wounded, Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. The roof of a residential building was damaged, and windows were shattered in several apartments, he said.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Saturday, April 4, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged following a Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Saturday, April 4, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged following a Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Saturday, April 4, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged following a Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Saturday, April 4, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged following a Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Saturday, April 4, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged following a Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
