February 20, 2025

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 20.02.2025, 13:55

Ukraine. Ilie Bolojan, the interim president of Romania, stated after Wednesday’s informal meeting in Paris that Ukraine’s security is directly linked to the security of Europe and of Romania, reaffirming the importance of the collaboration between the European states and the United States to achieve a just and lasting peace. “A fair peace cannot be achieved without the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the negotiations,” Ilie Bolojan also stated. Before the meeting, which was also attended by leaders from Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Sweden and Belgium, the interim president of Romania had talks with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron. “We have ensured once again that, just as France has been by Romania’s side in the very important moments of our country’s history, it stands by our side today. We have reconfirmed the strategic partnership with France,” said President Bolojan. He also added, “we have reconfirmed the stability of the French military presence in Romania. At the request of our country, this presence will be strengthened in the coming period.” Bucharest and Paris will also continue their economic cooperation, including in the defense industry, with the development of production capacities in Romania being taken into account for the coming years.

Negotiations. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has stated, regarding the peace negotiations in Ukraine, that the momentary harsh statements made by the world leaders are not important, what is important is a just and lasting peace in that country, which can only be achieved with the help of the US. He stressed that peace will bring lower energy and gas prices and an economic recovery throughout Europe. It is then vital to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, it is a project of over 500 billion euros, from which Romanian companies must gain as much as possible, Ciolacu added. He announced, on the other hand, that during the working visit he will make to Brussels on Friday, he will meet with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The discussions will focus, among other things, on aspects related to the renegotiation of the NRRP as well as the security situation in the current international context. The Head of the Executive specified that he will be accompanied to Brussels by the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Marcel Boloş, and the Minister of Finance, Tanczos Barna.

Elections. The President of the Constitutional Court of Romania rules out the possibility of the second round of the presidential elections being resumed. In an interview for the online publication juridice.ro, Marian Enache defended last year’s decision to annul the electoral process, taken unanimously by the constitutional judges. He explained that the Court’s decision was based on documents declassified at the meting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council, which highlighted serious irregularities regarding equal opportunities, the funding of the election campaign and influencing the vote. According to the President of the CCR, annulling the election was the only constitutional solution that would guarantee a fair electoral process for all citizens. Regarding the statements of the Vice President of the United States of America, J.D. Vance, according to whom the elections in Romania were annulled “based on the fragile suspicions of an intelligence agency and under enormous pressure from its continental neighbors”, Marian Enache believes that the American dignitary’s message is addressed to the entire European society, stating that democracy and the rule of law must be strengthened to defend citizens and fundamental values shared at the international level.

Reaction. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest reacted publicly after the well-known American news agency Bloomberg wrote that the Donald Trump administration was putting pressure not to ban Călin Georgescu’s candidacy in the presidential elections in May. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that in bilateral interactions with officials from Washington there were no discussions or interventions in relation to a candidate or the electoral process in Romania. The official message from Bucharest comes after Bloomberg wrote on Wednesday morning that the Romanian authorities would be under strong pressure from the Trump administration to guarantee the unhindered continuation of the electoral campaign of Călin Georgescu, described by the American agency as a far-right candidate. Bloomberg quotes sources close to the subject, who stated, under the cover of anonymity, that in recent days, private meetings between American officials and their Romanian counterparts would have taken place, which focused almost exclusively on the vote. The US State Department has declined to comment officially on the Bloomberg report. Independent Călin Georgescu, a sovereignist, isolationist and admirer of Vladimir Putin, won the most votes in the first round of the presidential election in November. The electoral process was annulled by the Constitutional Court, which found serious irregularities.

Drones. The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest has adopted, without amendments, a draft law that allows the shooting down of drones that illegally enter the national airspace. The Chamber of Deputies has also passed a draft normative act that regulates the way military missions are carried out in peacetime on the national territory. After the adoption of the two drafts, the Romanian Ministry of Defense condemned the “extended campaign of disinformation and fakes massively distributed by a number of users in Romania on various digital platforms”.

Football. The Romanian football champion, FCSB, meets, tonight, in Bucharest, the Greek champion, PAOK Thessaloniki, a team coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, for qualification to the round of 16 of the Europa League. FCSB starts with the 2-1 advantage obtained in the first leg, on February 13, in Thessaloniki. PAOK and FCSB faced each other this season in the main round of the competition, which FCSB finished in 11th place, and PAOK in 22nd. (MI)