THE WEEK IN REVIEW

17-21 March, 2025

Leyla Cheamil, 22.03.2025, 13:08

11 candidates for Romania’s presidential election

The list of candidates for Romania’s presidential election in May is final, after the Constitutional Court rejected the last appeals on Thursday. There are 11 candidates, seven of whom represent political parties and four are independents. Among those running on behalf of political parties is Crin Antonescu, former PNL leader and, for a short period in 2012, the country’s interim president. He is running on behalf of the ruling PSD-PNL-UDMR alliance. He was the PNL candidate in the 2009 presidential election, where he came third in the first round. USR leader Elena Lasconi, who came second in the elections annulled by the Constitutional Court at the end of last year, has re-entered the race. The current mayor of the capital, Nicuşor Dan, has entered the race as an independent. Recently expelled from the PSD, Victor Ponta, is also running as an independent. He was the leader of this party and prime minister between 2012 and 2015. On Monday, state authorities responsible for organizing the presidential elections assessed the preparation of the election and estimated that the logistics of the activities are on schedule, but insisted that good coordination is needed, especially with the online campaign. The talks were convened by interim president Ilie Bolojan. He has repeatedly assured that he would do everything possible to ensure that these elections are organized fairly, freely and transparently and at the same time reflect the dynamic political debate and commitment to freedom of expression. The electoral campaign for the first round will begin on April 4, and will end on May 3. Voting in the country will take place on Sunday, May 4, but Romanian citizens abroad will be able to go to the polls over three days, on May 2, 3 and 4. A second round will take place on May 18.

Searches in the case of financing the electoral campaign of the pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential elections last year

Several influencers who ran a paid campaign on Tiktok and other social networks for Călin Georgescu, the pro-Russian independent candidate in the presidential elections last year, are in the sights of prosecutors. On Thursday, searches took place at addresses in Bucharest and nine counties. Prosecutors also paid a call again to the home of an influencer about whom the Romanian Intelligence Service showed, that he financed Georgescu’s campaign on Tiktok with over 380,000 euros, with a document declassified by the Supreme Council for National Defense. Other people who supported Georgescu’s campaign, and received money on TikTok to promote the candidate with a radical anti-Western discourse, were also targeted by the searches. Declassified documents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the RIS showed that influencers were involved in promoting and buying votes. Judicial activities aim to establish links between those targeted by the searches and other individuals who may be involved in fraud in the electoral process, and how they were paid.

Romania supports North Macedonia

Four patients injured in the devastating fire at a club in North Macedonia were transported to Brussels on a Romanian Air Force Spartan aircraft, configured for special missions. During the flight between Skopje and the Belgian capital, the patients were monitored by a mixed medical team. The mixed team was provided by the Ministry of National Defense and the Department for Emergency Situations, as well as Belgian medical personnel. The mission is part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, established in 2001 by the European Union. 59 young people died in a nightclub fire in North Macedonia, and 196 were injured, including 20 children. The tragedy is reminiscent of the Colectiv case in Romania. A fire at the Bucharest club Colectiv in 2015 killed more than 60 young people and injured more than 180. The fire was caused by fireworks during a concert, and the flames quickly spread throughout the club. Following the massive protests that followed the deflagration, the then Social Democratic Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, resigned.

Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, present at the meeting of European leaders in Brussels

European leaders gathered in Brussels to adopt the White Paper on Defense, presented on Wednesday by the European Commission, with an emphasis on the acquisition of weapons from European production, not American, as previously. Present at the meeting, Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, stated that, at the European Council, there was a discussion about accelerating measures for the preparation of European defense, with NATO, which will continue to be the foundation of collective defense. Ilie Bolojan said: “This means that, in the coming period, member states will be able to carry out joint defense procurement, which is an opportunity for the national defense industry to enter the value chains of the European defense industry or the global defense ones”. He specified that this means that, in the coming period, member states will be able to carry out joint defense procurement, and the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy will analyze the opportunities related to financing in order to join European defense conglomerates.

No official communication regarding the postponement of the introduction of the Visa Waiver system

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official statement that, at this moment, there is no official communication regarding the change of the date envisaged for the update of the ESTA system for authorizing travel to the United States for Romanian citizens. The MFA specifies that Romania considers the Visa Waiver program as a security partnership, and affirms its conviction that its implementation will contribute to border security and combating illegal migration. The Foreign Ministry’s clarifications come in the context of information appearing in several Romanian publications that the Trump administration is considering a two-month postponement for technical reasons in the introduction of the Visa Waiver system for Romania. It was supposed to come into effect around March 31.