November 28, 2024 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 28.11.2024, 20:11
CSAT – The Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT), meeting on Thursday in Bucharest, found that there were cyber attacks with the aim of influencing the correctness of the electoral process in the first round of the presidential election in Romania, the Presidential Administration reports. The members of the Council confirmed that, in the current regional security and especially electoral context, Romania, along with other states on the Eastern Flank of NATO, has become a priority for the hostile actions of some state and non-state actors, especially the Russian Federation which shows a growing interest in influencing the public agenda in Romanian society and social cohesion. The Presidency of Romania shows that the analysis of the documents revealed the fact that, by violating the electoral legislation, a candidate in the presidential election, in this case the independent Călin Georgescu, benefited from a massive exposure due to the preferential treatment that the TikTok platform gave him with an impact on the final result of the election. In this sense, the CSAT members asked the authorities with responsibilities in the field of national security, those with responsibilities in the smooth running of the electoral process, as well as the criminal investigation bodies to urgently take the necessary steps to clarify these aspects.
STS – The Special Telecommunications Service (STS) reported that no vulnerabilities were identified regarding the provision, under security conditions, of communications services and information technology made available to the Permanent Electoral Authority, the organizer of the November 24 presidential election. STS also states that, neither before nor during the electoral process, did it receive information from other entities with responsibilities in the field of cyber security regarding the development of cyber attacks.
Constitutional Court – The Central Electoral Bureau approved the recount of all ballots in the first round of the presidential election, after the Constitutional Court of Romania has asked for it. With unanimity of votes, the CCR judges decided to request the re-verification and recount of all valid and invalid ballots from the November 24 election. The deadline by which the Central Electoral Bureau has to convey the results to the Constitutional Court is Friday, at 2:00 p.m., when a new meeting of the CCR is scheduled. The judges’ decision comes after the request of the presidential candidate Cristian Terheş, who argued that the votes received by Ludovic Orban would have been counted for Elena Lasconi, who ranked second with a difference of only 2,742 votes from the 3rd placed candidate, the current prime minister Marcel Ciolacu. At the same time, the judges of the Constitutional Court rejected, also unanimously, as late, the request to cancel the first round of voting made by Sebastian Popescu, a candidate from the New Romania Party. We remind you that on December 1 parliamentary elections will take place in Romania and the second round of the presidential election is scheduled for December 8.
Reactions – The decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) to request the Central Electoral Bureau to recount all the votes cast in the first round of the presidential election is criticized by several political parties. CCR is playing with national security, wrote on Facebook Save Romania Union’s (USR) candidate for the presidential seat, Elena Lasconi, qualified in the second round of the presidential election. She says that extremism is fought by voting and not by behind-the-scenes plotting. The leader of the Forţa Dreptei (Force of the Right) party, Ludovic Orban, who gave up running in the first round in favor of Elena Lasconi, believes that CCR is playing along the Social Democratic Party (in the governing coalition) to remove the USR candidate from the decisive round of the election. He believes that the result of the vote is clear, unambiguous and without any question mark. In turn, the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, George Simion, criticized the Constitutional Court and accused it of turning into a pawn on the political stage. According to the law, the CCR cancels the elections if the voting and the results took place through fraud in such a way as to change the assignment of the mandate or the order of the candidates who can participate in the second round of voting. In this situation, the CCR will order the repeat of the first round of the presidential election on the second Sunday from the date when the election was cancelled.
December 1 – Approximately 2,500 specialists and military personnel, 190 technical equipment and 45 aircraft will participate in the traditional military parade in Bucharest, on December 1, on the National Day of Romania. Along with the Romanian soldiers, approximately 240 foreign soldiers from Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia and France will march in the parade. They will be joined by colleagues from Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Great Britain, Spain, the USA and Turkey. At the same time, an exhibition of military equipment will be organized which can be visited after the end of the official ceremony. Romania’s National Day will be marked by military ceremonies in other large cities of the country, as well as in the theaters of operations where Romanian soldiers are deployed.
BOR – The Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has reminded its clergy that they are not allowed to support candidates or participate in electoral campaigns as supporters. They are required to maintain their neutrality both in public statements and in practical activity. The political option of the priest will be expressed only by secret personal vote, the heads of the Orthodox Church have stressed, ahead of the parliamentary elections due on December 1, on the National Day, and the second round of the presidential election, on December 8. At the same time, the Synod reiterates its appeal to the leaders of the political parties not to allow the recruitment of members from the clergy, nor the use for political purposes of church personnel, locations, services and symbols. BOR does not recommend supporting any political party or any political ideology, but urges all citizens to make choices aimed at achieving the good of the country and at promoting Christian values in society. At the last population census in Romania, in 2021, 85.3% of the total resident population declared themselves Christian Orthodox. (LS)
