Radio România Internațional

Category: Today in the News

  • Concern about Romania

    Concern about Romania

    Considered an essential partner in the Euro-Atlantic security framework, owing to its strategic position on NATO’s eastern flank, and a firm voice in a European Union, fully committed to supporting Ukraine, Romania not only lived up to expectations, but also offered no reason for concern so far. Things changed dramatically after the first round of the presidential election, won by an independent candidate, heavily promoted on TikTok, an opponent of NATO and the EU, an admirer of Putin’s Russia and some gloomy figures from the interwar period, anti-Semitic fascists, an advocate of resource nationalization and an autarchic economy. His victory in the first round was no accident: intelligence services later presented evidence pointing to serious Russian interference in the electoral process, stating that Russia is waging a hybrid war against Romania.

     

    The United States have expressed concern about reports of Russian interference in the elections. The State Department has warned that Romania’s break with Western alliances in terms of foreign policy might have serious negative effects on security cooperation with the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Romanian authorities had uncovered a large-scale and well-funded Russian effort to influence the presidential election. In addition, six former US ambassadors to Bucharest conveyed a message to Romanians, expressing concern that Romania was the target of a massive social media and cyber-attack, orchestrated by a state actor. In the letter, Alfred Moses, James Rosapepe, Michael Guest, Nicholas Taubman, Hans Klemm and Adrian Zuckerman expressed confidence that the Romanian people will see these attacks by authoritarian states as failed coups d’état and will not allow them to erode the close relationship the United States has always had with Romania. “Romania has no better friend than the United States, and the United States deeply values ​​this relationship. Together, the people of Romania and the United States will achieve peace, democracy, and prosperity”, the letter reads.

     

    A reaction also came from Berlin: “Reports from the Romanian authorities show that Russian disinformation is influencing the presidential election in Romania: Putin wants to divide us and undermine unity within the EU and NATO. But Europe remains strong. Together, we will protect our democracies from hybrid threats”, the German Foreign Ministry said.

     

    The tense electoral context and uncertainty have also reduced analysts’ confidence in the Romanian economy. The CFA Romania Association’s Macroeconomic Confidence Indicator fell by 13.5% in November, to 31.4%, the lowest level recorded since July 2020 during the pandemic, amid extremely high political uncertainty and a sharp increase in investors’ risk aversion levels, the association’s president, Adrian Codirlaşu, has argued. A slight increase in inflation, around 5% in the coming year, higher interest rates on loans contracted by the state and a slight devaluation of the national currency, are equally anticipated, the CFA Romania president added. (VP)

  • The European Commission – decision on TikTok

    The European Commission – decision on TikTok

    This is presently one of the most disputed topics at European level from institutions and authorities to mass-media: a well-funded and well-prepared campaign on the TikTok platform that would have backed the independent candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential race on November 24. The campaign was estimated at several million dollars although Georgescu says he didn’t pay any money whatsoever.

    Starting from this supposition, the European Commission on Thursday announced its decision to step up monitoring the platform under the European law on digital services.

    According to the commission, the measure is related to the EU Executive’s competences regarding the aforementioned law and has nothing to do with Romania’s election process, which is an issue strictly related to the Romanian authorities and the Romanian people.

    The Commission has called for the preservation of all information in the platform and its connection system concerning the European election in November 24, 2024 and March 31, 2025 in case further investigation is needed.

    The EU Executive, which says that presently it has no position on any possible infringement on the platform’s legal duties, has also summoned a meeting with all the authorities of the member states in charge of coordinating the implementation of the legislation over the digital services as well as a meeting on cyber-security.

    TikTok representatives earlier told the European Parliament that 66 thousand fake accounts, 10 million fake followers and also one thousand accounts, which allegedly belonged to some Romanian candidates, had been eliminated from the platform in the past three months.

    At the same time, TikTok Public Policy Director, Caroline Greer, has underlined that also in the case of the Romanian presidential election, the platform is not responsible for the fact that some election-related information remained unreported.

    According to Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, if the Executive’s verification proves the platform failed to comply with the European legislation on digital services, it can get fines up to 6 percent of its yearly turnover and for repeat infringements it can get temporarily suspended in the European area until the problems are solved.

    In Romania’s case, it is only the national authorities that can make a decision on possible investigations or sanctions applied to people or groups of people.

    (bill)

     

  • Romania hit by cyber attack

    Romania hit by cyber attack

    In an unusual move, president Klaus Iohannis has declassified the reports presented at the latest meeting of the Romanian Supreme Council of National Defence to discuss compliance with electoral advertising rules ahead of the first round of the presidential elections. A press statement issued after the meeting mentioned the existence of cyber attacks aimed at influencing the election process in the first round, whose shock winner was a virtually unknown independent candidate by the name of Călin Georgescu, who had benefited from massive exposure on TikTok.

    The documents declassified by the president speak of the scope and gravity of the actions targeting Romania. The assessments of the Romanian Intelligence Service show that an aggressive promotion campaign was conducted in the run-up to the first round of the presidential elections that eluded national election legislation and that a number of social media platforms were used to boost Georgescu’s popularity.

    The Romanian intelligence notes that a TikTok campaign that intensified in the last two weeks before the vote managed to ensure this candidate victory in the first round, from being virtually unknown at the beginning of November. The increase in the number of accounts promoting him was not organic, and the activity of these accounts was allegedly coordinated by a state-sponsored actor, which used an alternative communication channel to spread the messages on the platform. Georgescu has thus ended up trending in 9th place globally ahead of the first round of the presidential elections. According to intelligence reports, a Romanian citizen was identified who made donations of over 1 million euros on TikTok to fund Georgescu’s promotion. Cyber attacks also took place on election day and the following night.

    The report of the Romanian Intelligence Service writes that Romania is a target for aggressive hybrid actions from Russia, including intelligence leaks and sabotage. An open admirer of Putin’s Russia and of Romania’s interwar anti-Semite and fascist leaders, a tireless critic of NATO and the European Union and opposed to helping Ukraine, Călin Georgescu has baffled the political scene and the business community, not least for his autarchic view of economy reminiscent of the Ceauşescu-era national communism. His ideas were not without response from Romania’s strategic partners.

    Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the United States Department of State said the U.S. is concerned about the report by the Romanian Supreme Council for National Defence a bout Russian involvement in malign cyber activity designed to influence the integrity of the Romanian electoral process. “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”, Matthew Miller also said in his statement, before warning: “Any such change would have serious negative impacts on U.S. security cooperation with Romania, while a decision to restrict foreign investment would discourage U.S. companies from continuing to invest in Romania”.

  • Pro-European alliance in the future parliament

    Pro-European alliance in the future parliament

    The Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and national minorities other than the Hungarian signed, on Wednesday, a joint resolution in which they commit to form a coalition in the future Parliament of the country following the December 1 elections. ʹWe must overcome the wave of hatred that has been grinding us for 20 years and focus, together, on a great national goal – the continuation of Romania’s European development path! This is what Romanians are expecting from us, both those who live in the country and those who live in the West and who have shown us, through their recent vote, that we must continue to build a strong and dignified state, capable of fighting for the rights of the Romanians, stated the Social-Democratic leader and prime minister in office, Marcel Ciolacu.

    “The coalition is for the stability and modernization of Romania for the benefit of all citizens”, the Liberal interim president, Ilie Bolojan also pointed out, reaffirming, on behalf of all the signatory parties, that they will maintain and strengthen Romania’s commitment to European and Euro-Atlantic values and partnerships, as pillars of security and national prosperity. Also, the president of UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, has stated that this coalition also aims to isolate those forces considered extremist, which have an ideology unsuitable for Romanian society. “It is gratifying that no party wants to associate with AUR and SOS”, said Kelemen Hunor.

    All eyes are, of course, now focused on the extremely tense second round of the presidential elections, as the head of state is the one who, after consultations with all the political parties in parliament, designates the one who will form a Government. The interim leader of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan, urged all Romanian citizens to vote informed and rationally in the next election, to choose a pro-European, democratic and safe Romania and to reject isolationism, extremism and populism. “Going forward – the UDMR leader also said, x-raying the current political situation – we must, however, find those formulas and, of course, those public projects through which we can respond to society’s expectations. I want to believe that both PNL and PSD have understood the message of the people and do not want the continuation of what they have done in the last year and a half.’

    Government partners, seeming to have finally found that common element that united them, at the expense of the one that had deeply divided them in the past, the two, however, have put into operation their arsenal of fierce political struggle before the presidential and parliamentary elections. And between USR and PSD there has been a lot of grudge and resentment for years. Now, through the parliamentary coalition they agreed on, all these political forces say they now want to send an important message to society. (MI)

  • Parliamentary elections: mandates to be distributed

    Parliamentary elections: mandates to be distributed

    The new bicameral Legislature of Romania, resulted after the December 1 elections, is about to clarify its structure. 331 deputy and 136 senator mandates were at stake. Proportional to the number of votes received, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), number one in the current Government, is to have 86 deputies and 36 senators. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) (nationalist opposition) will have 63 deputies and 28 senators, double the mandates won four years ago. The National Liberal Party (PNL), in the governing coalition with the Social Democrats has 49 deputies and 22 senators and the Save Romania Union (USR), in opposition, has 40 deputies and 19 senators. The Romanian Parliament will include, for the first time, deputies and senators from two populist parties, which crossed the electoral threshold of 5%. S.O.S. Romania will have 28 deputies and 12 senators, and the Young People’s Party (POT) will have 24 deputies and 9 senators. Uninterruptedly present, since 1990, in the post-communist Romanian Legislature, the Demcoratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) now has 22 deputies and 10 senators. Ethnic minorities, other than the Hungarian one, remain practically ex officio represented in the Chamber of Deputies by 19 politicians, one for each ethnic community.

     

    As an anecdotal detail, the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Greblă, stated that, if at the redistribution of Sunday’s votes, the Young People’s Party got one more mandate, it would be drawn by lots from among all the other parties that entered Parliament, because the new party did not appoint enough candidates. All in all, the press writes, there are seven parliamentary parties, none holding a very large share and many incompatible with each other. It is a more fragmented Parliament than at any time in the last two decades, so it is going to be difficult to obtain a functional governmental majority. Without paying much attention to the nuances that differentiate them, the press gathers AUR, S.O.S. and POT under the general label of “sovereigntist pole” and predicts that it is highly unlikely that any of them will be co-opted into a government coalition.

     

    There remain, with a share of about 60% in Parliament, the avowed pro-European parties. Elementary arithmetic would argue for a broad PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR-minorities coalition. But their differences are harder to overcome. After governing together for three years, in the name of stability and curbing extremism, the social democrats and liberals fiercely attacked each other in the election campaign and now it seems that they can’t stand each other anymore. In almost a decade, USR and PSD have accumulated a lot of resentment and malice. And UDMR is very annoyed by a USR bill regarding the administrative reorganization of the country, which would diminish the Hungarians’ political influence in the territory. Now, everyone seems to be waiting for the decisive round of the presidential election, which, on Sunday, December 8, will pit the independent Călin Georgescu against the head of USR, Elena Lasconi. According to the Constitution, the head of state is the one who appoints the future prime minister. (LS)

  • TikTok management at EP hearing

    TikTok management at EP hearing

     

    The video-sharing app TikTok Tuesday defended before the European Parliament its measures to counter disinformation in the first round of Romania’s presidential election, and denied having favoured the far-right outsider Călin Georgescu.

     

    TikTok officials told the EP’s Committee on internal market and consumer protection that all candidates had been taken into account in the system without discriminating between independent contenders and those who were members of a party. The platform’s global head of product for authenticity and transparency, Brie Pegum, stated that of the networks taken down in recent months for unlawful political content, only one supported Călin Georgescu and it had much fewer followers than others supporting other candidates. She also stressed that the platform had eliminated over 66,000 fake accounts in Romania, around 7,000,000 fake ‘likes’, around 10,000,000 fake followers and 1,000 accounts that replicated candidate profiles.

     

    In turn, TikTok’s head of public policy and government relations, Caroline Greer, explained that the app had applied its own rules for electoral processes during the Romanian elections. She also added that in the months leading up to the elections she had had meetings with various authorities, including several political parties and the Romanian electoral authority. In addition, she mentioned that TikTok had 95 Romanian content moderators.

     

    Our view is strictly limited to what happens on the platform. We do not know what happens outside it, we do not know what the financial capacity of the candidates is or what they do elsewhere, the TikTok executive said. MEPs say, however, that the answers provided by the company do not clarify the question marks related to the transparency of the app operation or the tools used in countering manipulation.

     

    The Romanian MEP Dan Nica, leader of the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament, reiterated the request for the European Commission to get involved in the inquiry. He believes that it is important for European institutions to step in to prevent the misuse of online platforms for political purposes, which could affect the election process and citizens’ confidence in democracy.

     

    In fact, after the first round of the presidential election on November 24, Romania called on the European Commission to launch a formal investigation into the TikTok platform, based on the EU’s social media rules, which require companies to assess and mitigate threats to election integrity. Similar accusations were made against TikTok in connection with the recent parliamentary elections in Ireland. (AMP)

  • Romania to see presidential run-off on Sunday

    Romania to see presidential run-off on Sunday

    Romanians are preparing for the second round of the presidential elections, the last ballot in a busy election year that saw European Parliamentary and local elections in June, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections later in the year. The three consecutive Sundays hosting the elections of president and Parliament, namely 24th November and 1st and 8th December are a test for the authorities and society.

    After the first round of the presidential elections, to the logistical challenges was added a huge surprise and a political and social scandal. Contrary to all predictions, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the leader of the centre-right Save Romania Union Elena Lasconi came first and second, respectively, in the race. Following a complaint about possible fraud, the Constitutional Court last Thursday requested the Central Electoral Bureau to conduct a vote recount. After the parliamentary elections on 1st December, the constitutional judges met again on Monday and rejected the request for the cancellation of the results of the first round of voting. This means that Călin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi will race for the presidential seat on 8th December.

    Aged 62, Călin Georgescu graduated the agronomy faculty before holding a number of posts such as director of the National Centre for Sustainable Development, president of the European Research Centre of the Club of Rome, a director with the foreign ministry, an under-secretary in the environment ministry and a rapporteur at a United Nations office. Seen by a section of the Romanian electorate as a patriot and defender of Christian values and by others as anti-Semite and pro-Russian, he is against the European Union and NATO. Opinion polls ahead of the first round failed to pick up on his popularity, which is why his winning almost 23% of the votes cast in the first presidential ballot was such as shock.

    It was also a surprise to see Elena Lasconi finish in place, with 19% of the votes. Born in 1972, she worked for over 20 years as a TV reporter, producer and news presenter. She entered politics in 2020, when she won the elections to become mayor of the small town of Câmpulung, in Argeș county, winning a second term in June this year. Her political rise to acquire countrywide fame was quick. Also in June, she was elected leader of the Save Romania Union, which now backs her for president of the country. Her career was not without controversy, one of the most notable being her position to support the traditional family, which generated tensions within her own party and in public, in relation to her daughter, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. So she will face Călin Georgescu in the presidential run-off this Sunday in what looks like a very tight and tense race.

  • The ‘Hero of Seville’ dies

    The ‘Hero of Seville’ dies

    The legendary football goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam, winner of the European Champions Cup in 1986 with Steaua Bucharest, died at the age of 65, the Romanian sports press announces. He has faced several health problems in recent years and in September 2024 he underwent open heart surgery. Born on April 1, 1959, in Semlac, Arad, in a family of Swabians (ethnic Germans from western Romania), Duckadam made his debut in 1978 in Division A, with the county’s flagship team, UTA. After four seasons, he was transferred to Steaua Bucharest, a departmental club, patronized by the Defense Ministry, according to a Soviet model followed at the time by all the countries behind the former Iron Curtain.

     

    Duckadam was nicknamed the “Hero of Seville” after, on May 7, 1986, in the final of the European Champions Cup with FC Barcelona, ​​he saved all four of Barcelona’s penalty kicks as Steaua won the shootout 2-0, after the final finished 0-0 after extra time. In the shootout, Marius Lăcătuș and Gavrilă Balint scored for the Romanian champions. With a team made up exclusively of Romanian footballers, Steaua Bucharest was the first team from a communist country to win the most important continental interclub football trophy. Other footballers in that team that achieved that unique performance in the history of Romanian football and who have passed away in the meantime are the midfielder Lucian Bălan and the defender Ilie Bărbulescu. Duckadam’s performance was registered in the Book of Records. But, barely reaching the heights of glory, health problems forced him to give up professional football for good at only 27 years old. Three years after the final in Seville, in 1989, Duckadam returned to the field, for the last two seasons, at division B Vagonul Arad. All in all, he has 133 participations in Division A, 13 in the Romanian Cup and 9 in the European Champions Cup. His record includes two national champion titles, one continental champion and a Romanian Cup title.

     

    There is life after football, and Duckadam joined the Border Police in his hometown of Semlac. He was a major in the Police, from where he retired due to illness. In 2003, the former goalkeeper won the Visa Lottery, receiving the right to legally emigrate to the United States, but he shortly returned home. For a decade, Duckadam held the position of image president at the FCSB club in Bucharest. He was declared an honorary citizen of Bucharest, and the Presidency of Romania awarded him the “Sports Merit” Order. In recent years, Helmut Duckadam had become a sports analyst at a specialized channel in Bucharest. In the shows, he was always warm, chatty, with a good dose of humor, he preferred praise to criticism, never got angry and was incapable of offending anyone. At the news of the death of this gentle giant, his colleagues said, together with the entire Romanian football world: Thank you, Helmut! (LS)

  • The Outcome of the Parliamentary Elections in Romania

    The Outcome of the Parliamentary Elections in Romania

    Pro-European parties have mustered the votes of 57% of the Romanians who went to the polls to cast their ballot for the country’s future legislature, whereas the so-called sovereignist, isolationist political groups have gathered 32%.

    The elections registered a record high turnout, over 52% – the largest in the past 20 years. And seven political groups have cleared the minimum 5% threshold to become part of the new Legislature.

    The incumbent ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) got most of the votes followed by the sovereignist AUR, which doubled its number since the last election four years ago. The co-ruling National Liberal Party, a.k.a PNL, has obtained a better result than its leader in the last week’s presidential election. The number of votes it won was close to that obtained by the centre-right USR.

    The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has also cleared the minimum threshold and so has the extremist-sovereignist SOS Romania party led by the controversial MEP Diana Șoșoacă as well as the newly-established Young People’s Party (POT) founded by Ana-Maria Gavrilă, who had made it to Parliament on AUR tickets four years ago.

    Shortly after the exit-polls on Sunday night leaders of the seven parties made statements. “Through their vote in the Parliamentary elections the Romanians said they wanted the continuation of the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic progress”, Social-Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu said.

    “This is an important signal the Romanians have sent the political class – to continue to develop the country on European money but at the same time to protect our identity, national values and faith,” the AUR leader, George Simion, said. According to him the Romanians want a change and the representatives of his party will ensure the observance of the national values and democracy and that dialogue is the solution to Romania’s future. The interim PNL president, Ilie Bolojan, has thanked the Romanians for their interest in the election and has assured them the Liberals will continue to support the state reforms. In turn, the USR leader, Elena Lasconi, has made an appeal to unity for defending democracy and European values.

    Most of the Romanians abroad have endorsed the AUR party, but options also included USR, SOS Romania and POT. Turnout abroad was also significant, standing at roughly 800 thousand voters, three times higher than in the 2020 election. The largest number of voters was reported in Britain, but also in Italy and Germany.

    (bill)

  • Statements marking the National Day of Romania

    Statements marking the National Day of Romania

    Romanians celebrated their National Day on Sunday, December 1, this year marking 106 years since all provinces with a Romanian-majority population united under a single central authority. Therefore, December 1, 1918 marks the establishment of the Romanian national state. At the end of World War I, all provinces inhabited by Romanians, previously under the authority of the Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist empires (Transylvania, Banat, Bukovina and Bessarabia) united into the Kingdom of Romania. President Klaus Iohannis, who hosted his last reception as head of state marking the National Day, conveyed a message of unity and solidarity to overcome crises and move forward with dignity. The Romanian people is strong and attached to democratic values ​​and will continue to defend these values, the president said. Klaus Iohannis urged Romanians to look back with gratitude at the sacrifices and the fight for unity and sovereignty, but also forward to the future that must be built with wisdom.

     

    “On December 1, 1918, our forbearers managed to fulfill their dream of having a single country, achieving, in Alba Iulia, the Great Union. Since then, we have gone through wars, dictatorship, a revolution, serious health and economic crises. Driven by unity and solidarity in the face of common objectives, we have always managed to overcome these crises, to adapt and to rise stronger than before”.

     

    In turn, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that this year’s National Day is more important than ever, underlining the need for a Parliament that “keeps things in check”, so as not to slide “down a dangerous slope”. “This December 1 is about choosing between stability and chaos, between development and austerity”, Prime Minister Ciolacu said. The Prime Minister highlighted the need to strike a balance so as to maintain Romania on a pro-European track, to continue investments with European funds and for people to keep their jobs and pensions.

     

    Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă also highlighted the duty to put stability, dialogue and respect for citizens first, in the context of the current period marked by challenges and important decisions. “Now is the time to remember the sacrifices of our ancestors, who laid the foundation of a united and sovereign state, but also the responsibility we have to carry their legacy forward”, Nicolae Ciucă said in a message marking the National Day. “I hope this day will bring us together, regardless of our differences of opinion, around the values ​​that define us as a nation: unity, solidarity and hope for a better future. Romania has the resources and potential to grow, but this requires hard work, honesty and courage”, Nicolae Ciucă also pointed out. (VP)

  • Cyber-attacks on Romania

    Cyber-attacks on Romania

     

    The Supreme Defence Council, convening on Thursday in Bucharest, found that the first round of the presidential elections in Romania held on November 24 was the target of cyber-attacks designed to alter its accuracy. The Council members presented assessments concerning possible threats to national security, generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber actors on the IT&C infrastructures involved in the election process.

     

    They confirmed that, in the current regional security context, particularly as far as elections are concerned, Romania, alongside other states on NATO’s Eastern flank, has become a priority target for hostile actions by such actors, especially the Russian Federation, which is increasingly interested in influencing social cohesion and the public agenda in the Romanian society.

     

    Shortly after the conclusions of the Supreme Defence Council were made public, the Special Telecommunications Service, which provided technical support in the election process, confirmed the existence of such attacks. STS indicated that the number and complexity of the attacks increased as the ballot was drawing near, but that they were held off and no weaknesses were identified in terms of the safe provision of IT&C services to the Permanent Electoral Authority, the organiser of the elections.

     

    Another conclusion of the Supreme Defence Council meeting was that the social network TikTok favoured Călin Georgescu, a candidate perceived as a pro-Russian, anti-EU and anti-NATO extremist, who won the first round of the presidential election.

     

    After analysing the documents presented to them, the Council members concluded that Georgescu had benefited from massive exposure because his TikTok campaign ads had not displayed the unique identification code assigned by the Permanent Electoral Authority, as the Romanian electoral legislation requires. His visibility thus increased significantly compared to the other contenders, who were identified by TikTok algorithms as presidential candidates and whose campaign content was massively filtered, which exponentially decreased their visibility among the platform users.

     

    TikTok, however, denied the accusations. In a statement issued shortly after the Council presented its conclusions, the Chinese company indicated that, to date, it had found no evidence of a “covert influencing operation” targeting the presidential elections in Romania and no evidence of foreign influence.

     

    However, the Supreme Defence Council called on national security authorities, on the agencies involved in the smooth running of the election process, and on criminal investigation bodies to take urgent steps to clarify the issue. (AMP)

  • Preparations for the National Day of Romania

    Preparations for the National Day of Romania

    This coming Sunday is going to be a busy election day in Romania, as Romanians will be electing, this time, their senators and deputies. And the Central Electoral Bureau would announce, in the evening, the result of the recount of the votes from the first round of the presidential elections, held on November 24. An unprecedented political tension in 35 years of post-communist Romanian democracy threatens to eclipse a supposed day of concord, when what is celebrated in historiography is the Great Union of all Romanians.

    As an apolitical institution, the Romanian Army has its own program. The rehearsal for the military parade dedicated to the National Day, December 1, initially scheduled for Thursday, was moved to Saturday – the Ministry of Defense has announced. About 2,500 soldiers and specialists from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Special Telecommunications Service, the Penitentiary Administration and the Romanian Customs Authority, with about 190 technical equipment and 45 aircraft, will participate in the parade. Along with the Romanian soldiers, about 240 foreign soldiers will march in the military parade, as part of detachments from allied countries: Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain, United States and Turkey. The foreign detachments include about 21 technical devices, including combat aircraft. For the first time, women from the Army of the neighboring Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, mostly Romanian) will parade under the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest.

    The foreign offices of the Romanian Cultural Institute have also scheduled special events to celebrate the National Day. The Institute in Warsaw, for example, together with the “Watch Docs International Film Festival. Human Rights in Film’ invites the cinephile audience to a Romanian retrospective in the ‘Large Format Documentary’ section, dedicated to the most important achievements of the genre. This year, the section is devoted to Romania and runs until December 1. The group of Romanian documentaries recalls some archival productions from the 60s-70s-80s of the last century, but also presents a new creation by the Romanian director Radu Jude, one of the most appreciated contemporary filmmakers in Poland, for the Polish premiere.

    An official holiday after the anti-communist Revolution of 1989, December 1st marks the completion, at the end of the First World War, in 1918, of the process of establishing the Romanian unitary national state. It was then that all the provinces with a majority Romanian population under the rule of the neighboring multinational empires, the Tsarist and Austro-Hungarian one, came under the authority of Bucharest: Bessarabia (east), Bucovina (northeast), Transylvania (center), Banat, Crisana and Maramureş (west) .

  • A new European Commission

    A new European Commission

    The new European Commission, the second to be headed by Ursula von der Leyen, will take over from 1st December, after being approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday.

    In her speech, von der Leyen promised to revitalise the Union’s stagnating economy, boost competitiveness, reduce bureaucracy, unblock investments and bridge the innovation gap with the United States and China. Support for Ukraine, defence, managing migration, enlargement, climate actions, the budget reform and the rule of law will also feature among her team’s priorities. “Our fight for freedom may look different to generations past. But the stakes are just as high,” von der Leyen told MEPs. “These freedoms will not come for free. It will mean making difficult choices. It will mean massive investment in our security and prosperity. And above all it will mean staying united and true to our values. Finding ways to work with each other – and overcoming fragmentation”, vom der Leyen emphasised.

    The European Commission’s first initiative will be the Competitiveness Compass, a strategic plan to boost the European economy based on three pillars: innovation, the plan for industry and economic security, implying more European autonomy.

    The Commission’s new executive vice-presidents include Romania’s Roxana Mînzatu, who will be coordinating social policies, skills, professional training and certain educational policies. The new Social Climate Fund will also be part of her portfolio, with Romania to receive 6 billion euros for spending on measures to reduce energy poverty. Mînzatu will also coordinate some of the policies meant to prepare society for crises, a new concept within European policies. This also refers to educating and preparing society to cope with manipulation.

    Ursula von der Leyen also said that the Union must allocate more money to match Russia’s military spending, which accounts for 9% of GDP, while that of Europe accounts for a mere 1.9% on average.

    Wednesday’s vote for the new European Commission reflects the fragmentation within the current European Parliament, where there is no stable majority, but which, for the first time since 1999, has rejected none of the commissioners proposed, Politico notes. The new Commission got fewer votes on Wednesday than its president Ursula von der Leyen last summer and, at 54%, has the least support from the European Parliament since 1993.

    After the vote, the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said she was confident Parliament would work well with the new Commission.

  • Romania to enjoy more freedom of movement

    Romania to enjoy more freedom of movement

    2025 will go down in history as the year when Romanians earned the right to travel freely both to the Schengen area and to the United States. On Wednesday, Schengen member states gave the green light to Romania’s and Bulgaria’s full entry into Schengen from 1st January 2025. The decision was taken unanimously within the
    Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER) and is confirmation that no member state is opposed to the entry of the two countries, with the official approval to be given by the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in a couple of weeks.

    The Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria had until recently been blocked by Austria, which now says it is no longer opposed, admitting that illegal migration figures went down. Controls on Schengen air and maritime borders had already been lifted for Romania and Bulgaria at the end of March this year.

    President Klaus Iohannis hailed Romania’s full Schengen entry, saying in a social media post that this was a decision Romanian citizens had long-awaited. “Congratulations citizens of Bulgaria and Romania! You have waited for so long! You belong to Schengen. And you should benefit in full from Schengen freedoms”, said the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. Hungary’s permanent representative to the European Union, ambassador Bálint Ódor, said “With this decision, we will strengthen unity, free movement, and resilience across the EU. It’s a win for Bulgaria, Romania, and all of Europe”.

    Also on Wednesday, the US State Department announced that Romania met the criteria for entering the Visa Waiver Program as its visa refusal rate dropped below 3%. This year, around 80,000 Romanian citizens applied for US travel visa, with a record number of 78,000 being accepted. The announcement of the State Department was welcomed by the Romanian government, which said that fulfilling this goal would further consolidate Romania’s relationship with the United States.

    Romanian citizens will be able to travel visa-free to the US from 2025, giving this generation the chance to strengthen the friendship with the American people and to build a more prosperous partnership, said Andrei Murnu, Romania’s ambassador to the US. Andrei Muraru:

    “The announcement of the moment when Romania enters the Visa Waiver program is imminent. We are expecting it to be made at the beginning of January, with the actual entry into the program to take place sometime at the end of March or the beginning of April.”

    Until then, the foreign ministry in Bucharest says it stays committed to finalising the implementation of the necessary measures, both in the run-up to the adoption of the Visa Waiver decision, and later, as part of a constantly developing security context.

  • Romania between elections

    Romania between elections

    The result of the first round of the presidential election, which marked a historic break with the traditional parties, had significant effects on the financial markets, shaking the stock exchange and increasing Bucharest’s borrowing costs.

     

    According to analysts, investors perceive Romania as a riskier country, in the context in which the candidate who obtained the first place in this election round has economic and political visions that are far from the European values. The measures proposed by the candidate, Călin Georgescu, include a flat tax of 10%, stimulating wealth accumulation, taxing large companies with 2% of their turnover, redirecting European funds to small farmland owners and encouraging the free association of farmland owners in cooperatives. Economists argue that his economic plan is unrealistic and believe that the separation of Romania from the European market would be a disaster for local companies.

     

    They draw attention to the imminent danger that Romania is facing in the context of the results of the first round of the presidential election, warning that the country risks entering a crisis which it cannot overcome. After the results of the first round were announced, the Bucharest stock exchange fell by almost two points, the country’s borrowing costs rose, and analysts believe that an episode of Euroskepticism may lead to the loss of EU funds and a financial crisis. In fact, the electoral context in Romania has caused reactions of dissatisfaction both in the European Parliament and the European Commission.

     

    The events also drew the attention of the international media, with publications such as the Financial Times and Bloomberg writing about the political and economic effects of the results of the first round. Bloomberg, for example, writes that whoever takes power in Bucharest will face the challenge of repairing Romania’s finances. After the pandemic, the galloping inflation, the war in Ukraine and the government spending have put the country in a difficult situation.

     

    The publication’s analysts believe that the rapid increases in the minimum wage promoted by all governments in Bucharest in the last decade had only a limited impact, because companies were affected by the increase in labor costs and a decrease in the pool of qualified workers. And the Financial Times wrote, immediately after the results were announced, that a pro-Russian and far-right politician won the first round of the presidential election, shaking the country’s political establishment. Following the external concerns that emerged after the first round of the presidential election, the Romanian Foreign Ministry conveys that Romania is firmly committed to supporting democratic values, human rights, including gender equality, combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia and any forms of discrimination. They also say that the set of Romania’s foreign policy approaches is inseparable from Romania’s membership of the space of freedoms and rights, guaranteed by the status of member country of the EU and of NATO ally. (LS)