December 3, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 03.12.2024, 20:00
Vote. According to the final results of the Parliamentary election in Romania, centralized on Monday night, seven parties have made it to Parliament. First to the Chamber of Deputies are the ruling PSD and the sovereignist AUR followed by the co-ruling PNL and the centre-rightist USR. In the fifth and sixth places are the sovereignist-extremist SOS Romania and another sovereignist group known as the Party of Young People. The last two have made it to parliament for the first time. Last in terms of the number of votes was the UDMR. The ranking was also maintained in the race for the Senate. Talks have started aimed at creating a parliamentary majority. Acting prime-minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu had talks, on Tuesday with the USR president Elena Lasconi, who made it to the second round of the presidential election, about a pro-European majority and solutions for a government that supports the same values. The Liberals have decided to support a coalition with PSD, UDMR, USR and the national minorities. The interim Liberal leader Ilie Bolojan has stressed that the fragmented structure of the new legislature requires the coalition of these parties for a future stable majority. In the meantime Romanians are bracing for the second round of the presidential election, due on Sunday, 8 December.
TikTok. The TikTok platform defended on Tuesday, in the European Parliament, the measures it adopted to combat disinformation in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania and denied that it would have favored the independent candidate Călin Georgescu, who ranked first. According to the representatives of the platform, “all candidates were taken into account in the system without differentiating between independents and those who were members of a party”. At the same time, they say, the platform eliminated over 66,000 fake accounts in Romania, about seven million fake ‘likes’, about ten million fake followers and about 1,000 accounts imitating candidate profiles. After the results of the first round of the presidential elections on November 24, Romania asked the European Commission to launch an official investigation into the platform, based on the EU provisions regarding social media.
Visit. Over December 3 and 4, Romania’s Foreign Minister, Luminita Odobescu, is attending the meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels. The meeting has three sessions, which will be tackling the latest developments in the southern vicinity of NATO, the involvement of the North Korean army, the NATO-Ukraine relationship with emphasis on domestic reforms and NATO-EU cooperation. The last session will be devoted to NATO’s strategic agenda, the allies’ priorities for the upcoming summit in the Hague particularly by strengthening the Eastern Flank as part of the allied response to Russia’s threats. A session devoted to Ukraine will involve the participation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.
Schengen. The main developments of the Schengen file and the next stages regarding this goal were analyzed during the meeting of the Romanian Minister of the Interior, Cătălin Predoiu, with the French and German ambassadors, Nicolas Warnery and Peer Gebauer, in Bucharest. “The discussions revealed Romania’s contribution to ensuring the security of the EU’s external borders, combating illegal migration and cross-border crime”, according to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior. The release reads that the ambassadors recognized the important results obtained by Romania in terms of border security and migration management and reaffirmed their support for the completion of the accession to the Schengen Area, on the occasion of the JHA Council on December 12. (…) In another development, Romania’s joining the Visa Waiver Program was on the agenda of the talks between the Romanian minister and the US ambassador, Kathleen Kavalec. The discussions confirmed “the good collaboration with the American authorities and the progress made in the Visa Waiver file, which we hope to conclude successfully soon,” Cătălin Predoiu said.
Ducadam. Romania’s legendary goal-keeper, Helmut Duckadam, passed away aged 65. He had earlier been admitted to a hospital in Bucharest and had several surgical operations in recent years including heart surgery in September. He was dubbed ‘the Hero of Seville’, as he had a decisive hand in the victory his side Steaua Bucharest clinched in the 1986 finals of the European Champions Cup. His performance of saving all the four shots in the game’s shootout session, was included the Book of Records.
