THE WEEK IN REVIEW

March 31- April 4, 2025

Corina Cristea, 05.04.2025, 13:46

The electoral campaign for the presidential elections in May has begun

The electoral campaign for the presidential elections next month has officially begun in Romania, and the candidates have 30 days to convince voters to give them their vote on May 4. Of the 11 competitors, four are independents – Nicușor Dan, Victor Ponta, Daniel Funeriu and John-Ion Banu-Muscel, while the others are supported by political parties or alliances – Elena Lasconi, Lavinia Șandru, George Simion, Crin Antonescu, Cristian Terheș, Sebastian Constantin Popescu and Silviu Predoiu. The Permanent Electoral Authority has established stricter rules and published a guide to prevent misinformation on social networks. In the event of a second round of elections, the campaign for it will begin from the date of validation of the results of the first round by the Constitutional Court, and will end on May 17, at 7:00. The May elections take place after the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election on December 6 last year, the very day that the diaspora voting for the second round of elections, scheduled for December 8, had begun.

Reactions after the introduction of import duties by Washington

The new customs duties imposed by the United States on all its trading partners will mainly affect European countries, including Romania. Even though only 2% of all products exported by Romania reach the United States, the Romanian economy could be seriously disrupted due to the close ties with other European economies that make massive exports to the United States. The government in Bucharest has sent two emissaries to Washington for talks with the Trump administration. At the opening of the government meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that the executive branch is preparing several support measures for all industries affected by the new taxes imposed by the US, “through state aid schemes that are as efficient and simple to apply as possible, so that they can produce effects in the shortest possible time.” Romania is among the states with a trade surplus in its relationship with the US, last year exporting goods worth 2.2 billion euros. Both allies and trade adversaries of the United States have criticized President Donald Trump’s announcement to introduce import taxes on products from all over the world. Experts say that the escalation of the trade war will lead to higher product prices and a decline in the global economy.

Romania was represented at the meeting of allied foreign ministers by the head of diplomacy, Emil Hurezeanu

Increasing defense investments was an important point on the agenda of the meeting of allied foreign ministers in Brussels, at which Romania was represented by the head of diplomacy, Emil Hurezeanu. The ministers met to prepare for the upcoming summit in The Hague, in June, and to debate urgent security issues. “The United States will not abandon NATO.” This is the message that the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, brought to the meeting in Brussels. He described as unjustified international hysteria the assumption that Washington would no longer be as involved in NATO, but insisted, again, that the rest of the allies must reach spending 5% of GDP on defense. The meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council also took place at the ministerial meeting in Brussels. Allies remain committed to providing all possible assistance to Kiev to strengthen its position vis-à-vis Moscow, and achieve a lasting peace. At a press conference on the eve of the two-day meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the Alliance’s efforts to bring about a just and lasting end to the war in Ukraine. He highlighted NATO’s strong support for Kiev by announcing the commitment of more than €20 billion in security assistance – pledged by Allies – since the beginning of the year.

The simple motion against the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, was rejected

In Bucharest, the simple motion, initiated in the Chamber of Deputies by the sovereignist parties AUR and POT, against the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, was rejected on Wednesday. Representatives of the other opposition parties, USR and S.O.S., also voted in favor of the document. During the debates, the signatories stated that, through his actions, the minister had transformed the institution he leads into a political police. He rejected the accusations, which he said were not supported by facts or documents. Cătălin Predoiu stated that they were serious allegations against a fundamental institution of the Romanian state, and added that “from one year to the next, trust in the Romanian Police has increased, and has currently reached somewhere close to 55%”.

Romania towards OECD

Romania is on the verge of completing all the technical analyses for joining the OECD in the next twelve months or so. The announcement was made by the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Matthias Cormann, in a video message sent to a conference attended by the main officials of the Romanian state. In the year and a half since the official application was submitted, Bucharest has met 12 objectives, almost half of those required for joining the OECD. Romania has set itself the goal of completing the integration process into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development next year.