March 21, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 21.03.2025, 20:19
A roundup of local and international news.
BALLOT – The order in which the candidates to Romania’s presidency will appear on the ballot paper at the May elections will be established on Saturday by the Central Electoral Bureau. The institution announced that the positions on the ballot paper will be decided by drawing lots. 11 candidates officially remained in the race for the position of president of Romania. Among them are the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, who is running as an independent, former liberal leader Crin Antonescu, from the ruling coalition PSD-PNL-UDMR, former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who also chose to run as an independent, the head of the USR, Elena Lasconi, who came second in the first round of the 2024 presidential elections, annulled by the Constitutional Court, or the leader of the AUR, George Simion, who replaced the pro-Russian independent Călin Georgescu, whose candidacy was rejected by the CCR. The first round of the presidential elections in Romania will take place on May 4, and the second, two weeks later, on May 18.
INVESTIGATION – Romanian prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation and are requesting the 30-day preventive arrest of Bogdan Peşchir, the main financer of the promotion, on the TikTok platform, of the the ultra-nationalist Călin Georgescu, a former independent candidate for the presidency of Romania. Peşchir is currently detained on charges related to over 250 acts of voter corruption through electronic means of communication. According to a statement from the General Prosecutor’s Office, from March 2024 to January 31, 2025, Bogdan Peşchir allegedly offered almost $880,000 in the form of transmittable points, during live sessions on the TikTok platform, pints that can be converted into money. He also allegedly sent over 300,000 lei and almost 18,000 euros through transfers on the Revolut application to 265 people, in order to influence their vote in the 2024 presidential elections. On Thursday, other people who made themselves known on social media platforms were also targeted by searches in this case, including the influencer known as Makaveli, advisor to a senator from the SOS Romania party (opposition, ultra-nationalist), or people who are said to be part of an organized crime group.
EU – At the Brussels summit, the European leaders reaffirmed on Thursday their commitment to continue supporting the defense of Ukraine, as well as maintaining pressure on Russia. The declaration was adopted, however, without the signature of Hungary. Also, during the European Council meeting, the European Commission’s strategy on strengthening the security and defense of the EU was approved. The plan provides for investments in defense of 800 billion euros. Attending the Brussels summit, the interim president of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, explained that the member states will be able to carry out joint defense procurements, which represents an opportunity for the national defense industry. NATO remains the foundation of collective defense, Ilie Bolojan also said.
DEFENSE – The interim President of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, has convened a meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council on March 2, the Presidential Administration announced on Friday. According to the statement, topics such as the stage and prospects of the conflict in Ukraine following the illegal and unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation will be discussed, as well as the implications for Romania and the country’s stand in the context of the negotiation process regarding the end of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The Council meeting will also analyze other current issues in the field of national security, the Presidential Administration also announced.
ID – As many as 5 million Romanian electronic identity cards are to be issued by June 2026, the Ministry of the Interior in Bucharest announced. The institution specified that the first issuance is free of charge, with European funding. Romanian authorities on Friday made a presentation of the new documents, which began to be issued the day before, first in Cluj County (northwest), and then distributed nationwide. The new identity cards are a small format, the size of a bank card, with advanced security elements, which ensure protection against forgery or identity theft and allow easy access to electronic services. The Integrated Information System for issuing identity documents was also created with European funding. Romania celebrated on Friday, 104 years since the establishment of the first citizen record structure.
START-UP – The Romanian government has allocated around 450 million euros for this year’s edition of the Start-Up Nation program, aimed to stimulate the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises. Each young entrepreneur up to 35 years old, who will be admitted to the program to start a business or to develop the one they already have, will receive 50,000 euros. The government wants to support over 7,000 young businessmen to create at least 15,000 new jobs.
FELLOWSHIP – The ‘Eugen Ionescu’ doctoral and postdoctoral research fellowship program, financed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed together with the University Agency of the Francophonie (AUF), edition 2024 – 2025, will be attended by 110 people from 24 French-speaking countries, the Ministry announced. The fellowship program will be held between May 1 and July 31, in one of the 29 universities and higher education institutions in Romania, AUF members, registered for this edition. On May 23, 2007, the Government of Romania, following the commitment made during the 11th Sommet of Francophonie (Bucharest, September 2006), decided to establish and finance a Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, entitled Eugen Ionescu, to honor the memory of the Romanian-French writer, an emblematic figure of 20th century literature and a major representative of the theatre of the absurd. The program allows young French-speaking doctoral students and researchers from around the world to benefit a three-month research fellowship in one of the partner higher education institutions in Romania. (EE)
