November 25, 2024
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 25.11.2024, 13:55
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – The independent candidate Călin Georgescu has surprisingly won Sunday’s first round of the presidential election, with 22.95% of the vote, after the counting of 99.98% of the votes. The leader of Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, ranks second with 19.17%, followed by the leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) and the country’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, with 19.15%. The president of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, grabbed 13.87% of the vote, while the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Nicolae Ciucă, ranks fifth with 8.79%. Over 52% of candidates on permanent lists cast their votes. 821 thousand Romanians voted abroad. 13 candidates enrolled in the race, 9 backed by political parties and 4 independent candidates. The second round of the presidential election is slated for December 8, while the parliamentary election will be held on December 1, the National Day of Romania.
VOTE – The first round of the presidential election came to a close at 7 AM in all the voting precincts set up abroad, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. The last polling stations to close their doors were in Vancouver, Canada, but also on the US West Coast – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Las Vegas, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego and Seattle. Voters were able to cast their votes as early as Friday. The Foreign Ministry has set up 950 polling stations abroad for the presidential and parliamentary elections this year. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, 821,703 Romanians cast their votes abroad, 817,476 on additional lists and 4,227 by post.
REFERENDUM – Bucharest residents on Sunday were invited to cast their votes in a local referendum called by Mayor General, Nicușor Dan. The referendum passed the critical threshold of 30% participation. According to preliminary results, the majority response to the three questions was “Yes”. 67% of respondents agreed that construction permits be issued by the Bucharest City Hall alone, 64% voted in favor of the City Hall Council approving the budgets of the City Hall and local districts, while 82% voted in favor of creating a program designed to combat drug use in schools. The referendum needs to be first confirmed by Parliament, political parties cannot ignore the will of 500 Bucharest dwellers, Mayor Nicușor Dan said, calling on political parties to come up with a plan over the coming days with a view to transposing the result of the referendum into national law.
SCHENGEN – The Interior Ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary and the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, agreed in Budapest that Romania and Bulgaria would join the Schengen area with their land borders starting January 1, 2025. A decision will be taken in next month’s Home Affairs Council meeting hosted by Brussels. “Romania is a provider of security in Europe, and its accession will consolidate the Schengen area”, Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu said.
VISAS – China has eliminated visas for Romanian citizens over November 30, 2024 – December 31, 2025. The decision was hailed by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, which said the measure will help facilitate the mobility of Romanian citizens, expanding the scale of person-to-person contacts. Visas will be lifted for citizens travelling for business, tourism, visiting relatives of merely transiting China. Romanian citizens who do not find themselves in one of the aforementioned situations are required to present a visa upon entry. (VP)
