May 4, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 04.05.2025, 20:02
VOTE One hour before the closing of the polling stations in Romania, roughly 9.1 million people have cast their ballots, which accounts for 51% of the total number of voters on constituency lists, says the latest data released by the Permanent Election Authority (AEP). 940 thousand Romanian nationals have so far cast their ballots abroad. Most of the votes have been registered in Italy, Britain, Germany, Spain and France. The largest number of these stations are located in Italy and Malta, 161, next comes Spain with 147, Great Britain, 108, France and the Principality of Monaco, 69, the Republic of Moldova, 64, the USA 50, Belgium, 29 and the Netherlands, 23. According to the Permanent Election Authority, nearly 19 thousand polling stations have been opened on the Romanian territory, out of which 13 thousand in Bucharest alone. The AEP has issued 299 accreditations for observing journalists, associations and institutions. The interest in this election is very high after the first round of voting held in December last year was cancelled by the Constitutional Court, which based its ruling on documents provided by the country’s Higher Defence Council, which mentioned foreign interferences in the election process.
OBSERVERS A team of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe that will remain in Romania until May 25th, on Monday is going to present a couple of preliminary conclusions, which are to be followed by a final report on the presidential election in Romania – the head of the observing mission, Eoghan Murphy said on Sunday. According to him every aspect related to the election process is going to be assessed along with the political background and the way campaigns are being carried out both in the media and online. The OSCE team, which has been in Romania since March 25th upon the invitation of the Romanian authorities is made up of 13 members of the main team and 22 observers covering the entire Romanian territory. Also as an observer monitoring the presidential election in Romania on May 4 is the Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Election Commission, James Trainor who on Saturday held talks with the country’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu. The Romanian Prime Minister gave assurances that the country meets all the required democratic criteria for staging elections and the government is being involved in all organizational activities in Romania and abroad.
MAE The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest is cautioning the Romanians in France or those planning to travel to that country that trade unions in the country’s railway system have made an appeal for a one-week strike starting Monday. A series of major disturbances in the country’s rail traffic is expected and passengers are advised to visit the webpage of the French Railway Company for updates. The Romanians in France can ask for assistance by calling Romania’s General Consulate in Paris as well as those in Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg.
WEATHER The weather is going to be unstable in the next 24 hours in Romania, with temperatures dropping in the country’s north, while in the rest of the territory will remain the same. According to the latest weather forecasts, temperatures will be normal for this time of the year in the north-west and north, and the weather will be warm in the rest of the territory and hot in the south. The sky will be overcast with periods of clouds, showers and thunderstorms in most of the regions. The highs of the day will be ranging between 17 and 31 degrees Celsius.
(bill)
