November 17, 2014
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România Internațional, 17.11.2014, 12:00
ELECTION — The candidate of the centre-right Christian Liberal Alliance in opposition Klaus Iohannis won Sunday’s presidential election in Romania. According to partial results announced by the Central Electoral Bureau, after the centralization of data collected from 99.07% of polling stations, Iohannis grabbed 54.50% of the vote, as compared to 45.49% won by the candidate of the Social Democratic Party Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Here is what Iohannis said upon receiving the news:
“You have elected me president with over 6 million votes and I thank you. I must thank everyone who cast their votes on Sunday — the voter turnout was incredible — over 64% of people left their homes to cast their votes. The campaign is now over. But now we must get down to business — I am very willing to start doing my job. Romanians on Sunday have signalled a profound change — this must be a lesson both for me and the political class. I urge politicians to take this signal into consideration and think wisely about what they will be doing over the next days. I call on Parliament to bring up the amnesty law in Parliament and vote against it. Parliament must also take notice of all notifications of judicial procedures against MPs. We must also change the election law, lest the events of this past Sunday should happen again, when thousands of Romanians could not express their votes. This is unacceptable. I express my gratitude to all the people who endured hours on end to vote. The Government must dismiss all people found accountable for the unacceptable organization of the election”.
In turn, Social Democrat Prime Minister admitted defeat, but congratulated Iohannis.
“I became the Prime Minister with support from the people and political factions and if at one point, not right now, these factions and people ask me to step down, I won’t hesitate to do so. But this is certainly not the case now”.
Voter turnout stood at some 64%, the highest in the past 18 years. Political pundits say the win of the Christian Liberal candidate is surprising, given that at the first round of elections held on November 2, Iohannis got 30% of the vote, as compared to 40% obtained by Ponta, who represented the alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Conservative Party. Some 380 thousand people voted in polling stations abroad. Traian Basescu’s current term in office will expire on December 21.
DIASPORA — Some 379 thousand Romanians in the Diaspora voted in the second round of the presidential election, as compared to some 161 thousand in the first round. According to the Central Electoral Bureau, after collecting data from 93.97% of polling stations abroad, some 96 thousand voted in Italy and 83 thousand in Spain, two of the countries currently playing host to large communities of Romanians. Next on the list is the Republic of Moldova, with 35 thousand Romanians who cast their votes, the United Kingdom with 25 thousand, the United States and Germany, each with 17 thousand, France with 16 thousand and Belgium with 13 thousand. Authorities in Bucharest took measures to smooth the voting process, without however opening new polling stations, as many associations of Romanians abroad had requested. Thousands of Romanians queued up in front of embassy buildings in European cities, many of them not managing to cast their votes. Because of this, incidents were reported in many cities, with the riot police in Turin and Paris being forced to use tear gas to disperse the protesting crowds. As a sign of solidarity with the Romanians in the Diaspora, thousands of Romanians in Bucharest and other large cities organized street protests.
TALKS — Romanian Minister of National Defence Mircea Dusa is today holding talks in Bucharest with Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for the US State Department. Talks will focus on the Strategic Partnership, anti-ballistic defence, progress on the Deveselu military base and joint actions in 2015. High on the agenda for talks are also the crisis in Ukraine and its impact on regional security, as well as Romania’s contribution to the forthcoming NATO mission in Afghanistan. Rose Gottemoeller is paying a two-day visit to Romania, her second stop after Jordan, as part of a tour over November 14-26, which also includes visits to India, Russia and the United Kingdom.
DRILL — Some 180 Ground Forces military and 250 US airborne infantry are today taking part in the 2014 Phoenix Baneasa drill taking place in Babadag, south-eastern Romania. Up until November 21, Romanian and US military will train jointly as part of parachuting and firing drills. Activities are carried out also with support from the Romanian Air Forces.
MEETING — State Secretary for European Affairs with the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest George Ciamba will represent Romania at the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the agenda for talks focuses on the crisis in Ukraine, the peacemaking process in the Middle East and the Ebola epidemic. Talks on Ukraine will also tackle the impact of the election in Luhansk and Donetsk of November 2 on regional security, the series of sanctions imposed on Russia and energy issues.
FLIGHTS — Russia has resumed its strategic flights in response to the United States’ actions on the Russian border, president Vladimir Putin has told the ARD German television station. Russia had unilaterally renounced its air patrols, using aircraft capable of nuclear delivery in 1992, an action primarily motivated by the high costs of the operation. Pundits believe that once Moscow had the funds, it would be only a matter of time before it returned to its geopolitical tactics.
ISLAMIC STATE — The European Union on Monday expressed its commitment to fight the Islamic State terrorist cell, after the beheading of a new US hostage. “The brutal murder of US aid worker Peter Kassig and a number of Syrians who were reportedly soldiers is another illustration of ISIL / Daeshs resolve to pursue its terror agenda”, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said in a press release. “All perpetrators of human rights abuses must be held accountable. The EU will spare no effort towards this objective”, the EU official also said. The Islamic State has recently decapitated US hostage Peter Kassig in response to the United States dispatching military advisors to Iraq. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also firmly criticized the execution, expressing solidarity with the American people and reiterating our country’s full support to combating Islamic State terrorists.
AWARDS — Romanian inventor Ionut Budisteanu was awarded five prizes and two medals at the 2014 EUREKA Invention Contest held in Brussels over November 13 and 15. Ionut won the awards for inventing an electronic device aimed at facilitating the apprehension of ATM-related criminals. The invention consists of an electronic device wired to several CCTV cameras and a microphone capable of recognizing the noise produced by a burnisher when attempting to cut through an ATM. Aged 21, Budisteanu is known for obtaining outstanding results in scores of international contests in 11 countries. In 2013 Time magazine placed him on 9th position in a top of the most influential young people in the world. In 2014 Ionut Budisteanu designed an application for the visually impaired, allowing them to move around the city using their cell phones.
