Radio România Internațional

Tag: runoff

  • December 5, 2024 UPDATE

    December 5, 2024 UPDATE

    VOTE The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest on Thursday announced that it briefed the allied states on the attempted foreign interferences in the election campaign in Romania. ‘The Romanian Authorities are investigating this attempted initiative underway. ‘We are going to take all the measures needed to protect democracy, national security and sovereignty’, says a communiqué by the Foreign Ministry. In the meantime, the General Prosecutor’s Office was notified ex officio after checking the documents presented by the country’s Higher Defence Council regarding the campaign of independent candidate Calin Georgescu, which were declassified. An investigation is underway on various charges such as election fraud and money laundering. In another development the Constitutional Court on Thursday got four notifications calling for the cancellation of the results in the first round of the presidential election. The head of the Permanent Election Authority, Toni Grebla says the election cannot be cancelled because the terms stipulated by the law have been exceeded and the Constitutional Court has validated the results. The independent candidate Calin Georgescu will be facing the pro-European Elena Lasconi in the presidential runoff due on 8 December. Romanians abroad will have three days to cast their ballot starting this Friday.

     

    EU The European Commission has called on the TikTok platform to preserve all the information in its system linked to the EU election for thorough examination. The Commission has summoned representatives from the member states, European institutions and digital platforms to asses the risks posed by the information systems at the level of the entire bloc starting from Romania’s case. After the outcome of the first round of its presidential election, Romania had called on the European Commission to launch a formal investigation into the platform under the community rules on social media. On Tuesday in the European Parliament, the platform defended the measures it had implemented to fight misinformation in the first round of the presidential election in Romania and denied the allegation that it would have favoured the independent candidate Calin Georgescu. In another development the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken on Thursday said the Romanian authorities had revealed a large-scale and well-funded Russian effort to influence the presidential election.” Earlier, the US Department of State said in a communique that ”Romania’s hard-earned progress anchoring itself in the Transatlantic community cannot be turned back by foreign actors seeking to shift Romania’s foreign policy away from its Western alliances.”

     

    ECONOMY The analysts’ trust in the Romanian economy dropped last month amid the latest political developments. A survey among the experts forecasts a higher inflation rate in the coming year, a depreciated national currency and an economic growth lower than initially expected. The Macroeconomic Trust Indicator of CFA Romania dropped by 13.5 points down to 31.4 points, the lowest level since 2020. 77% of the pundits questioned have forecast a depreciated local currency in the following 12 months, while the rest believes it is going to stagnate. The budget deficit envisaged for the year 2025 would stay at 7.2% of the GDP, the economic growth at 1.3% and the public debt at 58%.

    (bill)

  • Republic of Moldova, a week ahead presidential runoff

    Republic of Moldova, a week ahead presidential runoff

    The suspense before the presidential runoff in the Republic of Moldova is even bigger than in 2016. The contenders are the same, namely, the incumbent pro-Russian president Igor Dodon and the former pro-Western PM Maia Sandu.



    Sandu enters the race on November 15 with a small advance, after winning over 36% of the votes in the first round, by 3% more than Dodon. As it is always the case with Moldova, the vote was not only political, but also geopolitical. The former PM won over 70% of the votes in the Diaspora. She also won in the capital Chisinau and in the central and southern regions with a mostly pro-Romanian population. Clearly irritated by the vote of Moldovan citizens abroad, where a record 150 thousand people went to the polling stations, Dodon defined the Diaspora as ”parallel electorate”, which drew him a wave of sarcastic comments. Dodon got good results in the areas dominated by ethic minorities, such as the breakaway region of Transniester, in the east, and the region of Taraclia, with many Bulgarian ethnics and the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia, both in the south.



    The candidates in favor of Moldova’s reunification with Romania, or at least pro-Europeans, who left the race after the first round, announced their unconditional support for Maia Sandu. Renato Usatîi, the pro-Russian mayor of Balti, Moldova’s second largest city, who came out third in the first round, surprised everybody when he called on his voters, around 17% of the electorate, to also vote Maia Sandu. He says he has been under pressure, by the power, to support Dodon and that he hopes Maia Sandu will be able to dismantle the corruption system headed by the incumbent president.



    Political analysts cited by Radio Romania correspondents in Chisinau have signaled aggressive manipulation campaigns and fake news dissemination, conducted with Russian support, that target Maia Sandu. Thus, according to these apocalyptic campaigns, the European Union and the United States are conspiring to stage a so-called colored revolution, in case Dodon wins. Suspending the payment of salaries and pensions and the trade with the Russian Federation if Maia Sandu becomes president are other such examples.



    Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself urged the Moldovan electorate to reward Dodon’s efforts to bring Moldova closer to Moscow. Pundits have already warned, ahead of the first round, that it is a custom for Russia to interfere with Moldovan elections, but that this interference is much more active this time. (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • November 23, 2019 UPDATE

    November 23, 2019 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS Romania holds the decisive round of its presidential election on Sunday. The incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, endorsed by the National Liberal Party, now in power, is facing the former Social Democratic PM Viorica Dancilă. Just like in the first round, the Romanians living abroad have 3 days to cast their ballots, and the number of pollings stations abroad has been doubled, to 838. The vote started at noon on Friday and will continue until Sunday. The number of citizens having voted so far indicates a higher turnout in the runoff than in the first round. By Saturday evening, over 315,000 Romanians had voted in foreign polling stations, of whom 17,500 voted by post, an option introduced this year for the first time. The largest numbers of voters were reported in Italy, followed by Britain, Germany, Spain and the Republic of Moldova.




    GAUDEAMUS The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania, comes to an end on Sunday. On the last day of the fair, the awards of the 26th edition will be presented. 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of this edition, devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. A total of 900 different events were scheduled, including book launches, debates and book signing sessions. On Saturday, the 4th day of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton took part in the launch of the second volume of his trilogy “A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled ‘The Victims’, Thierry Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered imprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their anti-communist beliefs.




    NATIONAL DAY 3,500 Romanian troops and another 500 from over 20 allied or partner countries, 200 military vehicles and over 50 aircraft will take part on December 1 in Bucharest in the National Day parade, the Defence Ministry has announced. The Romanian military on missions in theatres of operations in Afghanistan, the Western Balkans and Mali will also organise military ceremonies on National Day. Proclaimed a national holiday after the anti-communist revolution of 1989, December 1 marks the conclusion of the establishment of the Romanian nation-state at the end of World War 1, in 1918.



    COLECTIV After the Bucharest Court completed its investigations, on Monday the prosecution and the defence will present their closing statements in the case concerning the fire in Colectiv night club in Bucharest 4 years ago, in which 64 people died, one committed suicide further to the trauma and 200 others were injured. The Colectiv trial started in April 2016. After 2 years of deferrals over procedural matters, the judge assigned to the case retired, and during another year the new judge has heard the statements of scores of witnesses and victims.




    UN The 15 members of the UN Security Council endorsed a declaration reaffirming the ban on chemical weapons. The Council has reached a consensus long undermined by the war in Syria, and the Skripal affair in the UK or Kim Jong-nam case in Malaysia, AFP reports. The Council reaffirms that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, and declares its firm opposition to it. The declaration, proposed by Great Britain, was passed unanimously. The UN Security Council urges all states that have not yet done so to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons, which was signed in 1993 and came into force in 1997. Syria joined the Convention in 2013, Israel has signed it, but is yet to ratify it, whereas North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan are not yet parties to this Convention.




    POPE Pope Francis arrived in Japan on Saturday, on the second leg of his tour of Asia whose main goal is to send a message against nuclear weapons in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only cities in the world ever hit by atomic bombs, Reuters says. On Sunday in Nagasaki the Pope, a vocal militant against nuclear weapons, will read a message against weapons of mass destruction. He will also meet with survivors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011, the most destructive after the one in Chernobyl in 1986. After Thailand, the first stop in his tour, the Pope reached Tokyo, where he will stay for 4 days. This is the first visit by a Sovereign Pontiff to this country in 38 years, and only the second in history. Another goal of his visit is to encourage the Catholic community in Japan, where only 1% of the population are Christians and half of these Catholics. The Pope will perform 2 services, one in Nagasaki and one in Tokyo, and will have meetings with senior Japanese officials and with Emperor Naruhito.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 23, 2019

    November 23, 2019

    ELECTIONS In Romania, the campaign for the second round of the presidential election, due on November 24, has come to a close this morning at 7 am. Competing are the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, endorsed by the National Liberal Party now in power, and the former Social Democrat PM Viorica Dancilă. The Permanent Election Authority has announced that the Electoral Register has been updated and the total number of voters in the roll is 18,217,411. In the first round, in which 14 candidates took part, Klaus Iohannis got nearly 38% of the votes, and Viorica Dăncilă a little over 22%. The voter turnout was 51.19%. In the Romanian communities abroad, where the vote took place over 3 days, record-high turnout was reported, with over 675,000 people showing up in polling stations. For Sundays runoff as well, the 835 polling stations abroad are open for 3 days, Friday through Sunday, with the possibility for the vote to be extended until midnight on Sunday. The number of Romanians
    having voted abroad in the runoff suggests a higher turnout than in the first round. The vote rate increased in the
    past few hours, after polling stations reopened in all the countries in Europe,
    which host the largest Romanian communities in the world. First ranking are the
    Romanians in Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain and the Republic of Moldova.




    GAUDEAMUS 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of the Gaudeamus Book Fair organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania, in an edition devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. During the 5 days of the Fair, 900 different events are scheduled, including book launches, debates and book signing sessions. Today, on the 4th day of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton takes part in the launch of the second volume of his trilogy “A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled ‘The Victims’, Thierry Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered imprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their anti-communist beliefs.




    COLECTIV After the Bucharest Court completed its investigations, on Monday the prosecution and the defence will present their closing statements in the case concerning the fire in Colectiv night club in Bucharest 4 years ago, in which 64 people died, one committed suicide further to the trauma and 200 others were injured. The Colectiv trial started in April 2016. After 2 years of deferrals over procedural matters, the judge assigned to the case retired, and during another year the new judge has heard the statements of scores of witnesses and victims.




    DiscoverEU Youth of over 18 years of age may enrol by November 28 in a programme called DiscoverEU, which enables them to travel free of charge in the European Union. Eligible applicants must be citizens of one of the member states and fill in an online form. This is an initiative of the European Parliament, designed to provide young people with new mobility opportunities. The selected candidates will be able to travel, especially by train, for max. 30 days between April 1 and October 31, 2020. Since the programme was launched in 2018, Romania offered nearly 2,000 such permits, out of a total of 50,000 issued in the EU.




    UN The 15 members of the UN Security Council endorsed a declaration reaffirming the ban on chemical weapons. The Council has reached a consensus long undermined by the war in Syria, and the Skripal affair in the UK or Kim Jong-nam case in Malaysia, AFP reports. The Council reaffirms that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, and declares its firm opposition to it. The declaration, proposed by Great Britain, was passed unanimously. The UN Security Council urges all states that have not yet done so to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons, which was signed in 1993 and came into force in 1997. Syria joined the Convention in 2013, Israel has signed it, but is yet to ratify it, whereas North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan are not yet parties to this Convention.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 21, 2019 UPDATE

    November 21, 2019 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The campaign ahead of the second round of Romania’s presidential elections on Sunday continues until Saturday morning at 7 am local time. The incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, who is endorsed by the National Liberal Party, now in power, is facing the former Social Democrat prime minister Viorica Dancila. According to the Permanent Election Authority, the total number of registered voters is 18,217,411. In the first round, which saw 14 candidates in the race, Iohannis won almost 38% of the votes and Dancila a little over 22%. Voter turnout stood at 51.19%. In the diaspora, where voting took place over three days, a record turnout was reported, with 675,000 people casting their ballots. The second round of voting is also taking place over three days abroad: on Friday between 12 am and 9 pm and on Saturday and Sunday between 7 am and 9 pm, with the possibility for the voting to be extended until midnight. The foreign ministry has already distributed the materials needed for the voting process abroad. 4,608,1754 ballots were distributed among the 835 polling stations set up abroad, 100,000 more ballots than was requested in the first round.



    EU The European Parliaments Conference of Presidents, including the EP president David Sassoli and the leaders of political groups in the EP, Thursday completed the hearings of the 26 Commissioners-designate and gave the green light for the last procedure before the new Commission may start its term in office on December 1, one month later than originally scheduled. The Conference of Presidents also authorised the publication of the evaluation letters. The vote on the investiture of the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen will be held during a plenary session in Strasbourg on November 27. On Monday the EP committee on foreign affairs approved the candidacy of Hungarys Oliver Varhelyi for European Commissioner for Enlargement, after on November 14 specialist committees also approved the candidates designated by Romania (Adina Valean for Transport Commissioner) and France (Thierry Breton for internal market).



    FAIR The 26th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair organised by Radio Romania is under way in Bucharest. Thursdays programme featured book launches and talks with writers, historians and experts from various fields, as well as debates on topics such as contemporary poetry in various interpretations and writers who opposed dictatorships. 900 different events are scheduled over the five days of the fair and 230 exhibitors are showcasing their products, from very diverse fields. This year’s edition of the fair is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the anti-communist revolution of December 1989. The poet Mircea Dinescu and the actor Ion Caramitru, who were prominent figures of the revolution, are honorary co-presidents of the fair.



    MIGRANTS Six Algerian migrants, who caused a fire on the vessel on which they had illegally reached the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa, went missing on Thursday morning, the Coast Guard reports. The border police that were surveilling the Panamanian-flagged ship NORDIC Barents, which arrived from Turkey, were announced by a crew member that the illegal passengers were no longer aboard. The Coast Guard added that there are suspicions that the crew aided the illegal border crossing.

    INDICTMENT The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted for bribery,
    fraud and breach of trust in 3 separate cases, Israel’s Attorney General
    announced on Thursday. Netanyahu has allegedly received luxury gifts from
    businessmen and is suspected of attempting to secure positive news coverage in
    Israel’s biggest daily, Yediot Aharonot,
    in exchange for measures against the rival publication Israel Hayom. Benjamin Netanyahu is also accused of trading government favours
    for positive coverage on the news website Walla.
    It is for the first time in the history of Israel that a sitting prime minister
    is charged with a crime.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu, Cristina Mateescu)

  • November 20, 2019 UPDATE

    November 20, 2019 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The campaign ahead of the second round of Romania’s presidential elections on Sunday continues until Saturday morning at 7 am local time. The incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, who is endorsed by the National Liberal Party, now in power, is facing the former Social Democrat prime minister Viorica Dancila. The Standing Electoral Authority has announced that the electoral register has been updated and the total number of voters in the lists is 18,217,411. The total number of citizens residing abroad and entitled to vote in this election is 715,064. In the first round, which included 14 candidates, Iohannis won almost 38% of the votes and Dancila a little over 22%. Voter turnout stood at 51.19%. In the diaspora, where voting took place over three days, a record turnout was reported, with 675,000 people casting their ballots. The second round of voting is also taking place over three days abroad: on Friday between 12 am and 9 pm and on Saturday and Sunday between 7 am and 9 pm, with the possibility for the voting to be extended until midnight. The foreign ministry has already distributed the materials needed for the voting process abroad. 4 million, six hundred and eight thousand and 175 ballots were distributed among the 835 polling stations set up abroad, 100,000 more ballots than was requested in the first round.




    FINANCE The European Commission Wednesday recommended that Romania should implement an annual structural adjustment of 1% of the GDP in 2020, to ensure that the nominal increase in net primary government expenditure will not exceed 4.4%. Romania is also advised to use any exceptional revenues in order to reduce the deficit, with budget consolidation measures aimed at ensuring sustainable improvement of the government structural balance, able to encourage growth. Bucharest is also requested to present the Council with a report on the measures taken in this respect, no later than April 15, 2020.



    MEETING The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had a meeting on Wednesday with the US State Secretary Michael Pompeo, on the side-lines of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The Romanian minister appreciated the US constant support for strengthening NATOs defence and deterrence posture on the eastern flank and pleaded for enhanced American military presence in Romania, given the volatile security context in the Black Sea region. He also reiterated the firm commitment of the new government in Bucharest for a fair sharing of responsibilities within NATO, confirming that Romania will continue to earmark 2% of its GDP to defence and to take part in foreign military missions. Also on Wednesday, Bogdan Aurescu had talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on which occasion he mentioned the Common Declaration on the Strategic Partnership signed in 2018 by the presidents Klaus Iohannis and Emmanuel Macron, which re-launched the bilateral relation.



    ARREST The owner of the Romanian company that provided pest extermination services to 2 apartment buildings in Timişoara, western Romania, was taken in pre-trial custody for 30 days, under accusations of manslaughter, bodily harm and trafficking in controlled substances. Three people died, including a 9-day baby, over 40 others, mostly children, are hospitalized, and the buildings have been evacuated. The tragedy caused panic among the locals, with scores of people requesting medical check-ups. Investigations have revealed that the substances used for pest extermination had been purchased on the black market and contained a highly toxic compound. Concurrently with the criminal investigation, new decontamination operations were conducted on Wednesday, and a Health Ministry team is running on-site tests.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 19, 2019

    November 19, 2019

    ELECTION In Romania, the campaign for the second round of the presidential election continues. The vote is scheduled for Sunday, November 24th. Competing are the incumbent president, Klaus Iohannis, backed by the National Liberal Party in power, and the former Social Democrat PM Viorica Dancila. According to data made public by the Central Electoral Bureau and validated on Friday by the Constitutional Court, in the first round Klaus Iohanis got 37.82% of the votes and Viorica Dăncilă 22.26%. The turnout was 51.19%. Abroad, where Romanian citizens were able to vote Friday through Sunday, record-large numbers of voters showed up in polls (over 675,000). In the runoff as well, the Romanians living abroad will have 3 days to cast their ballots, between noon on Friday and Sunday at 9 PM, with a possible extension to midnight.




    AUTOMOTIVE In October Romania was the most dynamic automobile market in Europe, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association announced. Last month, around 11,000 vehicles were registered in Romania, up 58.1% since the same month last year. In the first 10 months of 2019, around 135,000 automobiles were registered in Romania, accounting for an annual growth rate of 18.9%, whereas the European automobile market saw a 0.7% decline. Dacia reported a 7.8% rise in sales in Europe in October, to 40,687 units. The Romanian carmaker Dacia was taken over by Renault in 1999. Relaunched in 2004 with the new Logan model, Dacia turned into a major player in the European automobile market.




    TRAGEDY The owner of the Romanian company that provided pest extermination services for 2 apartment buildings in Timişoara, western Romania, was arrested for 24 hours this morning, under charges of manslaughter, bodily harm and trafficking in controlled substances. The court will decide whether he will be kept in pre-trial arrest. Recently, 3 people died following a pest and rodent extermination operation—a 9-day baby, a 3-year old and his mother, while 20 other people, adults and children, are hospitalised. The 2 buildings have been evacuated. Preliminary investigations reveal that the intoxication was caused by neurotoxins. The tragedy caused panic among the locals, with scores of people requesting medical check-ups.




    STATISTICS Over one-quarter (27.7%) of the population of Romania were living in 2018 in households without indoor toilets. The figure is down from the 29.7% reported in 2017, but still more than 10 times above the EU average of 2.1%, according to data made public today by Eurostat, on World Toilet Day. In as many as 19 member states, the percentage of people living in housing without indoor toilets in 2018 was below 1%, including Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden where the figure is very close to zero. At the opposite pole, Romania is preceded by Bulgaria with 15.3%, Lithuania (10.6%), Latvia (9.9%) and Estonia (5.3%). Still, the number of people living without proper sanitation services in the EU dropped from 3.3% in 2010 to 2.1% last year, and in Romania it fell from 40.9% to 27.7%.




    THEATRE The Government of Japan awarded the Order of the Rising Sun to the actor Constantin Chiriac, director of the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu and president of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, in recognition of his contribution to promoting the Japanese culture in Romania and the cultural exchanges between the 2 countries. The Order of the Rising Sun was established in 1875, and is one of the most important decorations bestowed by the Japanese government, second to the Order of the Chrysanthemum, and is the highest awarded to foreign citizens, for distinguished achievements in international relations, for the promotion of the Japanese culture and of projects aimed at preserving the environment.




    FOOTBALL Romanias Under-21 football team are playing tonight away from home against Northern Ireland in the 2021 European Championship qualifying Group 8. With 3 wins and a loss in previous matches, the Romanians rank second in the group, after Denmark. The senior team Monday lost to Spain, 0-5 away from home, in Group F of next years European Championship qualifiers, and finished 4th in the group. After the defeat, manager Cosmin Contra announced his resignation. The only chance left for Romania to qualify into the final tournament is the Nations League playoff due in March. The draw for Euro 2020 will take place in Bucharest on November 30. The Romanian capital city will also host 3 group matches and an eighth-final.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 18, 2019

    November 18, 2019

    ELECTION Romania sees the last week of the campaign for the presidential runoff. Competing are the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, backed by the National Liberal Party in power, and Viorica Dăncilă, the leader of the Social Democratic Party. In the first round, Iohannis got nearly 38% of the votes, and his challenger little over 22%. In the country, the vote will be held on Sunday, November 24, whereas the Romanians living abroad have 3 days to vote, namely Friday, Saturday and Sunday.




    AGRICULTURE The Romanian agriculture minister, Adrian Oros, is taking part on Monday in Brussels in the meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council. The main topic on the agenda is the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy as of 2020. According to the line minister, the participants will discuss the Regulation on the funding, management and monitoring of the CAP, as well as a Regulation on the common organisation of agricultural markets. Last month, the agriculture minister told the Romanian Parliament that his top priority was to prepare the national strategic programme, because in the coming 7 years the main financing source for the Romanian agriculture is the annual 20 billion euros granted under the CAP.




    COMMISSIONERS The European Parliament is to make a decision by Thursday regarding the latest commissioner nominations made by Romania, France and Hungary. The UK, which declined appointing a commissioner, will have to provide an official answer by Friday, Radio Romanias correspondent in Brussels reports. The president of the European Parliament and the floor group leaders will make a final assessment of the 3 candidates and will decide the closure of the hearings on November 21. The commissioners nominated by Romania and France, Adina Vălean for transport commissioner and Thierry Breton for the internal market commissioner, respectively, have already been given the green light by the specialist committees. Hungarys nominee for enlargement and neighbourhood policy commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, had to answer additional questions from MEPs. A second rejection of Hungarys candidate will force a new postponement of the validation of the Commission as a whole. Further questions have to do with the UK, whose unwillingness to nominate a candidate is against the EU Treaty. However, the president elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, may go forth with an executive team of 27 members, as long as the legal affairs experts decide that the absence of a British commissioner does not prevent the activity of the new Commission.




    POLITICS The members of Save Romania Union, the third-largest party in Parliament, are voting online until Wednesday on Dan Barnas prospective resignation as party president. Barna said he was ready to step down, following the discontent triggered by his performance in the presidential election, in which he failed to qualify into the runoff. He got 15% of the votes, although half a year ago in the elections for the European Parliament the USR-PLUS alliance had carried 22% of the votes.




    NAVY The King Ferdinand frigate is taking part in an international anti-submarine warfare exercise organised by the Turkish Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and which is under way until November 20, the Navy Chief of Staff has announced. The Romanian crew will be carrying out specific training activities in Turkey’s territorial waters and neighbouring international waters alongside colleagues from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Jordan, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, the United States and Turkey. According to the Romanian Navy Forces, the participation of King Ferdinand frigate in this exercise contributes to enhancing the interoperability of the Romanian and partner forces, and to promoting the professionalism of the Romanian Army.




    TOURISM Romanias largest travel fair came to a close on Sunday in Bucharest. The event brought together travel agencies, tour operators and tourist regions represented by trade associations or by county councils. 230 companies from 16 countries came up with offers for all seasons and all tastes, with discounts going up to and even over 50%. The offers include Christmas and New Years holidays in the country and abroad, summer packages in Romanian and Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, in the Danube Delta, in spa resorts, or in traditional regions.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The Week in Review, 10-15 November 2019

    The Week in Review, 10-15 November 2019

    The right and left face each other in presidential runoff


    On Sunday, November 10, Romanians went to polls in the first round of the presidential election. Out of the 18.2 million voters, 51.19% showed up in polling stations and decided that facing each other in the second round, due on November 24, would be the Liberal candidate, the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, who got 37.82% of the votes, and the ex-PM and Social Democrat leader Viorica Dancila, who got 22.26%. An outspoken opponent of the Social Democratic Party, which he blames for damaging reforms in the judiciary and economy, Klaus Iohannis warned that a victory is not yet certain, and urged people to come to polls in the runoff as well:



    Klaus Iohannis: “As for the runoff, I call all those who were with me in the street to defend the rule of law to come to polling stations so that your efforts may not be in vain! To those who want hospitals, schools, motorways, I tell you, come to polling stations to remove the Social Democrats from power completely, and to build all these things together! To those who no longer want to see their children and grandchildren leave the country, I tell you, come to polls, because now is the time to change things! And to the many people who are already away, I tell you, come to polls, because now you can make a difference!



    In turn, the Social Democrats chief voiced confidence in her victory:



    Viorica Dancila: “The votes cast today help us to carry on our campaign, a campaign in which we will tell Romanians both what we have achieved so far, and, more importantly, what we intend to do for them once we win the presidential election. Our fight is not against a political party, we dont try to dismantle a political party because democracy means that any party must be allowed to present its view. Our fight will be, as it has been so far, a fight for Romanians, for Romania, for balance and consensus, for unity, for a dignified representation of Romania both in the country and abroad.



    Whereas the turnout in the country in the first round was rather modest, the Romanians living abroad mobilized and went to polls in record numbers, reaching 675,000 people.




    Strategies for the second round of the presidential election


    Although the first day of the campaign for the presidential runoff is November 15, the competition between the 2 candidates started shortly after the first round and is already tougher than ever. The decision taken by President Klaus Iohannis and his campaign staff not to participate in any direct debate with Viorica Dancila is surprising for many people. On Tuesday, the President, who made no secret out of his goal to remove the Social Democrats from power, has written in a post that there can be no debate with a candidate of a party that ruled against the Romanians and which only goes through the motions of democracy. Dancila, who repeatedly asked for a debate ahead of the first election round, has reacted by saying that a debate would help her dismiss all “dirty accusations levelled against her and her party in the past few years. In a press conference on Wednesday, Klaus Iohannis pointed out:



    Klaus Iohannis: “Mrs. Dancila is the representative of an anti-democratic, unreformed party, which has governed against Romanians’ best interests. In the current election campaign, she pretends to be a democratic candidate, expecting due respect from everyone, as if she had been defending Romanian democracy and Romanians all along.



    Viorica Dancila was quick to retort:


    Viorica Dancila: “Mr. Iohannis speaks of a disastrous government. If disastrous government means increasing salaries and pensions, investing in local communities, making Romanian economy second at EU level in terms of growth, then the President is either dishonest or misinformed. Moreover, disastrous governing wouldn’t have been praised by Member States and third-party states for the good handling of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.



    The campaign is due to conclude on Saturday, November 23, at 7.00 AM.




    Romanias nominee for Transport Commissioner, approved by the EP


    Adina Valean, designated by Romania for the post of European Commissioner for Transport, Thursday got the green light from the specialist committee in the European Parliament. Her priorities include an environment-friendly, fair and transparent transport network and fewer road accidents, in which respect Romania has the poorest figures in the EU. The president elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will present the full commission and its programme to the European Parliament on November 27.



    A new political crisis in the Republic of Moldova


    The Republic of Moldovas pro-Russian president Igor Dodon Wednesday entrusted one of his advisers, Ion Chicu, with the formation of a new government. The nomination comes after the Cabinet headed by the pro-European PM Maia Sandu was dismissed in a no-confidence vote initiated by Dodons Socialists, although they were part of the ruling coalition. On Thursday the new Cabinet was endorsed by the Moldovan Parliament and shortly after that they were sworn in.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Romania ahead of presidential elections

    Romania ahead of presidential elections

    Ever since the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, the most passionate elections in Romania have been the ones for president. There were even cases when, although the race seemed clearly in the hands of a particular candidate, the favourite lost dramatically in the decisive round. Every time, the left wing candidate lost the election to the representative of the political right.



    In 2004 and in 2009, Traian Basescu crushed the Social Democrats’ dream of having another president after Ion Iliescu, the central figure in Romanian politics in the first years of post-communist democracy. And while Basescu only won by a narrow margin, the 2014 victory of incumbent president Klaus Iohannis was not only spectacular, but also very clear.



    Five years later, Klaus Iohannis, backed by the main Opposition party, the National Liberals, finds himself the favourite in the presidential race. To such an extent even, that some rushed to predict that he might win the election from the very first round. This, however, is virtually impossible, given that he needs half plus one of the total number of votes, that is, over 9 million.



    A constant opponent of the Social Democratic Party, which he tried to oppose, although with limited powers, when the ruling party initiated a controversial judicial reform, Iohannis also received his fair share of disapproval. Many criticised him during his term in office for not opposing the Social Democrats with enough vigour.



    A devoted pro-European and pro-American politician, Klaus Iohannis is seen in Washington and Brussels as the main guarantor of the rule of law and of independent judiciary in Romania. Moreover, in this autumn’s election he will be backed by a strong party, which in the recent European Parliament election proved that it can mobilise its supporters for a major electoral goal.



    Iohannis will be competing against the head of Government and of the Social Democratic Party, Viorica Dancila, and against the representative of the USR-PLUS Alliance, Dan Barna.



    In his turn a very vocal critic of the laws passed by the left-of-centre government in the judicial and economic sector, Barna takes a distance from Iohannis in order to maximise his chances. He claims the incumbent president is himself a member of a morally compromised political class, responsible for the country’s lack of progress in recent years.



    Viorica Dancila, thrown out of the blue into the political arena by former Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea, managed to win the party presidency and the presidential candidate position after Dragnea was sentenced for corruption this May. Her rhetoric includes all the major left-wing themes—education, healthcare, protection for the vulnerable. Her goal is clear: to get into the presidential runoff, where, as history has proved, everything is possible.



    The presidential election is at present a 3-player game. However, the People’s Movement Party came up with an interesting candidate, the diplomat, professor and essayist Theodor Paleologu, who is expected to increase the unpredictability and, obviously, the intellectual quality of the competition for the top public position in the country.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)