THE WEEK IN REVIEW

21-25 October 2024

Roxana Vasile, 26.10.2024, 14:32

The electoral campaign at the start

The electoral campaign for the presidential elections in Romania started at midnight from Thursday to Friday and will end on the morning of November 23. 14 candidates are registered in the race for the highest position in the State – 10 supported by political formations, and 4 independents. Voting throughout the country, in the first round, will take place on Sunday, November 24, between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time. If at the time of closing the polls there will be voters in line or in the precinct, the president of the polling station can order the extension of voting until 11:59 p.m., at which time the system will close automatically. Voters can vote only in the locality where they have their domicile or residence, and in Bucharest, only in the sector where they are registered on the permanent lists. The address of the polling station to which the voter belongs can be found on the website of the Permanent Electoral Authority. Voters who are in another locality can express their choice at any section, and will be registered on additional lists. Romanian citizens with domicile or residence abroad can vote either by mail, if they have chosen this option, or at any section organized in the country or abroad. The second round of the presidential elections is scheduled to take place on December 8. Interspersed between the two rounds, the elections for the country’s bicameral Parliament will take place on December 1, Romania’s National Day.

Romania and the elections in the Republic of Moldova

The fate of the Republic of Moldova must be decided only by its citizens – declared, on Monday, the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, who welcomed the vote given the day before in the referendum for European integration and in the presidential elections in the neighboring state. 50.46% of the participants in the referendum – validated by the Central Electoral Commission from Chisinau – answered ‘YES’ to the question ‘Do you support the amendment of the Constitution with a view to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union?’. At the same time, the current president, pro-European Maia Sandu, who is running for a new term, won over 42% of the votes, while the candidate of the Socialist Party, Alexandr Stoianoglo, obtained almost 26%. The two will face each other in the decisive round on November 3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest welcomed the organization of the presidential elections and the referendum in the Republic of Moldova at high democratic standards, but expressed its concern about Russia’s interference of an unprecedented scope, complexity and toxicity, recorded since the period before the polls opened.

Official visit to Montenegro

Towards the end of his term as President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis was, on Wednesday, on an official visit to Montenegro, where he discussed with his counterpart Jakov Milatović about the European course of that country, which Romania strongly supports. Romania supports the process of expanding the European Union with the partners from the Western Balkans and with the candidate states from the eastern neighborhood – declared the president. In his opinion this policy represents the best investment in the democratic consolidation of Europe. Klaus Iohannis and Jakov Milatović also analyzed the ways to increase investments and trade, and talked about cooperation within NATO, both in terms of the Black Sea region, support for Ukraine, and the consolidation of the Eastern flank. On the other hand, military ceremonies were scheduled, on Friday, on the occasion of the celebration of the Romanian Army Day, within the country, in the military bases in the theaters of operations where Romanian soldiers are deployed, in the states where Romania has accredited defense attachés, as well as at cemeteries and monuments of Romanian soldiers from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary.

Bad news from the IMF

This week, the International Monetary Fund has revised downward the estimates regarding the growth of Romania’s economy this year from 2.8%, as forecast in April, to 1.9%. Instead, for 2025, the IMF estimates a growth of 3.3%. Average annual inflation should reach 5.3% at the end of this year, and 3.6% next year, and unemployment should remain at 5.6 percent and decrease, in 2025, to 5.4. Also this week, the Bucharest Chamber of Deputies adopted, as a decision-making body, the draft law on the minimum wage. The law transposes a European directive that aims to improve the working and living conditions of employees. The document stipulates that the gross minimum basic salary guaranteed in payment should be established annually, through periodic updating, after consulting the trade unions and representative employers at the national level, and take into account the cost of living and economic and social indicators.

Help from the European Commission

The European Commission approved, on Thursday, a State aid scheme for Romanian farmers affected by the drought. 400 million euros will be granted for damages from September 2023 to August 2024. The money is intended for agricultural producers who had losses for one or more of the 39 types of selected crops. To qualify for this type of aid, farmers must demonstrate that they have lost more than 30% of their crops. The maximum aid value is 200 euros per hectare for a 100% loss. This year alone, the Government estimates that around 2 million hectares have been affected by drought.