CCR – The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) validated the first round of the presidential election held on November 24. After counting the votes from all polling stations in the country and from 161 stations abroad out of the 950 organized in the Diaspora, the CCR judges concluded that, although there were some differences compared to the first count, they were not the result of fraud. At the same time, they decided not to wait for the recount of all the votes cast in the Diaspora, as they were not contested. Thus, with unanimity of votes, the CCR judges rejected as ungrounded the notification of the MEP Cristian Terheş, according to which votes obtained by a candidate who withdrew from the race at the last moment would have been transferred to the account of another and decided that the independent Călin Georgescu, perceived as a pro-Russian extremist, and the president of the Save Romania Union – USR, Elena Lasconi, will run in the second round of the presidential election. Also, the CCR confirmed that the presidential final will take place on the previously established date, December 8.
Elections – Romania’s new Parliament will include 7 political parties. In Sunday’s general elections, the Social Democratic Party – PSD, in power, won the largest number of votes, around 22%, followed by the sovereigntist Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR with roughly 18%, double their figure in the last election 4 years ago. Third comes the National Liberal Party – PNL, another member of the ruling coalition for the past 4 years, which won some 14% of the votes, and 4th is the right-of-centre Save Romania Union – USR, with around 12%. The 5% parliamentary threshold was crossed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the extremist party S.O.S. Romania led by the controversial MEP Diana Șoșoacă, and the newly founded sovereigntist Young People’s Party (POT). The voter turnout was over 52%, the highest in the last 20 years. Outside Romania, some 800,000 Romanian nationals voted, 3 times more than in the previous parliamentary election.
December 1 – Romania’s National Day, marked on December 1, was celebrated on Sunday throughout the country with parades, military and religious ceremonies, shows, artistic events, and fireworks. The traditional parade took place in Bucharest, being attended by over 2,500 Romanian and foreign military personnel. President Klaus Iohannis, who hosted his last National Day reception as head of state, sent a message of unity and solidarity to overcome crises and move forward with dignity.
Duckadam – The former great Romanian goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam, known as the “Hero of Seville”, passed away at the age of 65. The Romanian Football Federation confirmed the sad news and sent their condolences to the family and loved ones. Born on April 1, 1959, in Semlac, Arad county in western Romania, Helmut Duckadam started playing football in 1975, at Gloria in Arad. Until 1983, when he transferred to Steaua Bucharest, he played at UTA (1977 and 1978-1983) and Constructorul Arad (1977-1978). He became the “Hero of Seville” in the final of the European Champions Cup of 1986, when he managed to save four shots in a row in the penalty shootout which secured Steaua’s win against Barcelona (2-0). His performance in Barcelona made him enter the Book of Records. Duckadam also defended the goal of the Romanian national team twice.
Internship pay – The executive vice-president of the European Commission, Roxana Mînzatu, participated on Monday in her first council meeting together with the European labor ministers. The agenda included the directive for interns, through which the member states try to find a solution by which young people can be paid for the internship period, within a campaign or institution. Mânzatu stated that there are many situations in which employers exploit the concept of apprenticeship and internship and use young people in the jobs they need, but without paying them. We remind you that Roxana Mînzatu received the European Parliament’s vote of confidence last week, together with Ursula von der Leyen’s entire team, and will deal with social issues and crisis preparation in the new European Commission. (LS)
