THE WEEK IN REVIEW
10-14 March, 2025
Ştefan Stoica, 15.03.2025, 13:40
Presidential elections without Călin Georgescu
In Romania, the week in which candidates for the highest office in the state were able to submit their candidacy for the May elections is coming to an end. The validation process of those registered will continue, however, even after March 15, the deadline accepted by the Central Electoral Bureau. The moment everyone was waiting for was the one in which the candidacy file of the pro-Russian extremist Călin Georgescu reached the CEB. Let us recall that he, a quasi-unknown 4 months ago, had unexpectedly won the first round of last year’s presidential elections, but the Constitutional Court annulled the election, an unprecedented decision, after finding that the entire electoral process was flawed in Georgescu’s favor, with the broad collusion of Russia. Not surprisingly, the CEB rejected his file on Sunday, invoking precisely the CCR’s decision from last December. According to the CEB, Georgescu’s candidacy does not meet the conditions of legality, since he, by failing to comply with the rules of the electoral procedure, violated the very obligation to defend democracy, which is based on fair, honest, and impartial elections. On Tuesday, the CCR confirmed the CEB’s decision, thus ending Călin Georgescu’s electoral adventure, which began on TikTok, and which caused so much damage to the political system. Georgescu’s most radical supporters protested violently after learning of the CEB’s verdict, causing destruction and injuries to some gendarmes.
Old and new candidates
Orphaned after their ideological father withdrew from the presidential race, the leaders of two populist and ultranationalist parties in Parliament, George Simion (AUR) and Anamaria Gavrilă (POT), decided, on Georgescu’s advice, to both enter the competition, only for one of them to withdraw. The self-proclaimed ‘sovereignist’ zone is also represented by Diana Şoşoacă, SOS Romania, who is on her second attempt, after last year’s, when her candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court. Also on the sovereignist path is former prime minister and social-democratic leader Victor Ponta, whose registration in the presidential race resulted in his exclusion from the PSD. Ponta tried to become president in 2014, but lost to Klaus Iohannis. Another aspirant on their second attempt is former liberal leader Crin Antonescu. He is the joint candidate of the ruling coalition (PSD – PNL – UDMR) and represents the pro-European camp. He will fight for the votes of the electorate loyal to Romania’s membership in European and Euro-Atlantic structures with Nicuşor Dan, the current mayor of Bucharest, for the first time in the position of presidential candidate, and with the head of the USR, Elena Lasconi. She had qualified for the 2024 finals, which was not contested.
Mercenary put under investigation
The Supreme Court rejected this week the appeals filed by mercenary Horaţiu Potra, close to Călin Georgescu, his son, Dorian Potra, and another family member, Alexandru Potra, and upheld the arrest warrants in absentia, issued two weeks ago in their names. The three were put under general investigation after leaving Romanian territory. Three other mercenaries remain in preventive detention. On the other hand, the judges decided that 11 mercenaries from Potra’s group should be released from preventive detention and placed under house arrest, while four other people were placed under judicial control. Following searches conducted in a case related to the financing of Călin Georgescu’s electoral campaign, investigators found a veritable military arsenal in the homes used by Horaţiu Potra and his associates, and stacks of money and gold bars in a safe hidden under the floor of the house,. Prosecutors claim that Horaţiu Potra and the group of mercenaries aimed to infiltrate the protests organized immediately after the annulment of last year’s presidential elections, in order to create chaos.
Measures for those with too little and too much income
The Bucharest government has decided that pensioners whose pension income does not exceed 2,574 lei, the equivalent of 515 euros, will receive financial support worth 800 lei, approximately 160 euros. Over 2.5 million pensioners are in this situation. They will receive the money in two equal installments, the first in April and the second in December. From those with modest incomes, to those privileged in the public system, Minister of the Environment Mircea Fechet announced that the Government has eliminated the shameless bonuses that Romsilva employees received upon retirement. The minister said “We are ensuring that, at Romsilva, there will no longer be such situations in which defiance replaces common sense, as happened in the case of the award of 100,000 euros upon retirement to several employees, some of whom returned to their positions as soon as they received the money”. Thanks to him, in the last 2 years alone, over 1,200 employees of the forest administration have benefited from almost 200 million lei, or 40 million euros.
Final European campaign for the champion
Romania’s football champion, the Bucharest team FCSB, was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Europa League by the French team Olympique Lyon. After winning 3-1 in Bucharest, the French team won on Thursday on their own turf, with a decisive 4-0. The champion team’s performance in Europe was, however, commendable. In the group, FCSB obtained 4 wins and 2 draws, losing only to two famous British teams, Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers. Then it qualified for the round of 16 after two victories against the Greek team Paok Salonika, coached by Romanian trainer Răzvan Lucescu.
