December 8, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 08.12.2024, 19:15
Elections. Dozens of Romanians protested outside their countries’ embassies and at polling stations in various European capitals against the cancellation of the presidential elections, whose second round was due on Sunday, 8th December. On Friday, the Constitutional Court of Romania ruled that the entire election process would be resumed, saying it had been tampered with. Judges also said that the fair and transparent nature of the election campaign was affected and election funding rules were disregarded. The independent candidate Călin Georgescu, who got the most number of votes in the first round and who is at the heart of a scandal surrounding Russia’s meddling in the Romanian elections, showed up, together with a number of supporters, to the polling station where he was registered and would have cast his ballot had the elections not been cancelled. He said democracy itself was “cancelled” together with the elections. Elena Lasconi, who was to face him in the second round, urged her supporters not to respond to provocation, but that she intends to run again. Both Lasconi and Georgescu critised the decision to cancel the elections, but other politicians described it as fair.
Investigation. Seven persons are under investigation as part of a criminal case opened in Romania after over 100 people attended last week the commemoration of the leader of the former Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Legionnaire Movement, where they displayed fascist and legionnaire symbols, which is against the law. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the persons under investigation used legionnaire flags and symbols and then shared their videos of the event on TikTok. The justice ministry also announced an investigation into five persons in connection to death threats to supporters of former presidential candidate Elena Lasconi. Another case refers to the funding of the presidential election campaign, with searches being conducted in Braşov, in the centre, targeting Bogdan Peşchir, the holder of a TikTok account suspected by prosecutors of corrupting voters, money laundering and IT fraud. Documents declassified by the Supreme Council of National Defence indicate that he contributed to financing Călin Georgescu’s election campaign.
Syria. The Romanian foreign ministry advised its citizens to leave Syria immediately, on any available safe route. Romanian citizens are also advised to inform the embassy of their presence in the region and their location, so that they can be contacted in the event of an emergency. Russia, one of the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, said on Sunday that al Assad resigned and left Syria, folowing a lightning offensive by Syrian rebels led by radical Islamists that caused disarray among the Syrian army. Turkey said that it is in contact with the rebels to make sure the Islamic State group and the Workers’ Party in Kurdistan do not take advantage of the collapse of the Syrian regime in order to expand their influence.
Constitution Day. Romania celebrated Constitution Day on December 8. The country’s fundamental law was adopted by the Constitutional Assembly on November 21, 1991 and approved by a national referendum on December 8 that year, with a majority of over 77%, before being revised in 2003. The Romanian Constitution includes 156 articles divided into 8 titles and regulates, among other things, the general principles of state’s organisation, and the rights, freedoms, and fundamental duties of citizens and public authorities.
Book fair. On the last day of the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania in Bucharest, trophies were awarded based on the evaluation by expert juries and based on the votes of the public. For five days, between December 4 and 8, this year’s 31st edition of the Fair brought together over 600 book launches, as well as conferences, debates and literary workshops. This year’s honorary president of Gaudeamus was the writer Mircea Cărtărescu, one of the best-known and most appreciated contemporary Romanian writers and the recipient of many national and international awards.
Table tennis. Romania ranked fourth at the table tennis Mixed Team World Cup hosted by Chengdu, in China, after losing the third-place match to Hong Kong 2-8 on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Romania were defeated in the semifinals by China 8-1. At last year’s edition of the competition, Romania did not advance past the first stage.
