Romanian candidates at the European Parliament elections

Thursday is the deadline for the submission of candidacies for the European Parliament elections.

Ştefan Stoica, 28.03.2019, 14:34

Romania will have 33 seats in the future European Parliament, provided that Brexit becomes reality. European elections are scheduled for May 26 and the biggest parties and alliances have already submitted their candidate lists. In terms of candidates, the offer is quite varied, as former prime ministers, ministers, current MEPs, mayors and journalists will be running.

Minister for European Funds, Rovana Plumb, opens the Social Democratic Party’s list. Rovana Plumb: “We believe Romania has equal rights in the European Union, Romania has things to offer in the EU, Romania deserves more and Romanians deserve more. I am honored to be part of the Social Democrats’ team, a team that will fight for Romania in Brussels and for the well being of Romanians, a team of people who love their country.”

The first candidate on the list of the National Liberal Party (PNL), is journalist Rares Bogdan:

“We are not just talking about European elections, we’re talking about Romania’s path, about to be or not to be in Europe, to be or not to be a strategic partner of the United States. Starting May 26, Romania will give the signal that the right wing returns to power.”

A former European Commissioner for Agriculture and a former technocratic PM, Dacian Ciolos represents the newly set up 2020 Alliance, made up of the Save Romania Union and PLUS, in the opposition.

Dacian Ciolos: “We have a program that, as of tomorrow, we will begin to explain to people, tell them in which way we want to bring Europe to Romania, instead of going to Brussels ourselves, explain how we prepare to be a true political alternative in Romania, given that what happens now has to stop.”

The first on the candidate list submitted by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the Social Democrats’ partner in the ruling coalition, is MEP Norica Nicolai: “We, the Liberals in ALDE, do not regard Romanians as simple party members, sympathizers or supporters of certain ideologies. We respect the fact that all Romanians love their country, that all of them want to live in a Europe that is closer to us and which respects us more, just as we are closer to Europe and respect it. “

Former Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta tops the list of his new party, Pro Romania, made up of former PSD members: “For PRO Romania this is the first election it takes part in, so it is very important to show that we offer a pro-European Liberal Social Democrat alternative.”

The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) has put first on its list an experienced MEP, Iuliu Winkler, while the People Movement’s Party (PMP), in the opposition, put former president Traian Basescu on top of the list.

The candidates’ slogans and discourses are too much about Romania and Romanians, and too little about Europe and the challenges ahead. Euro-skepticism affects the entire continent, and the sovereign-populist current will be strongly represented during the campaign for the European Elections.