May 6, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 06.05.2025, 13:55
GOVERNMENT – In Bucharest, the Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu, who also serves as Interior Minister, has been appointed interim Prime Minister, after the Social-Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned yesterday.The Social-Democratic Party decided to leave the government coalition, which also includes the Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) following the failure of the coalition’s candidate in the first round of the presidential election. Predoiu’s interim cabinet will manage urgent affairs, but will not be able to pass legislation and emergency decrees. The ultranationalist and populist leader of AUR, George Simion will face the pro-Western independent candidate and Bucharest Mayor General Nicușor Dan in the presidential runoff, slated for May 18.
REPORT – The first round of the repeat presidential election was organized efficiently, according to a report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which came to Romania to monitor the May 4 election. During the election campaign, fundamental freedoms of association and assembly were observed, but the authorities’ actions to supervise online activity were not fully transparent, according to the preliminary conclusions of international observers, OSCE head of the mission, Eoghan Murphy, said. “In a notable effort, various state institutions established procedures and structures, and identified and flagged more than 450 accounts and systemic disinformation issues; however, oversight of the online environment and campaigning remained split across institutions, resulting in a fragmented response and limited transparency”. There was also limited information on what platforms were doing to combat the use of inappropriate behavior and manipulative content. The OSCE observation mission to Romania will continue to monitor the election process during the second round of the election slated for May 18, and will publish a full report on the presidential election at the end.
EFFECTS – Political uncertainty has also impacted financial markets in Romania. On the foreign exchange market, the Euro exceeded 5 lei, and the 3-month ROBOR index, based on which the cost of consumer loans in lei with variable interest is set, rose to 6.08% per year, from 5.9% per year in the previous session, according to the National Bank of Romania. Central Bank spokesman, Dan Suciu, said that capital inflows have recently decreased on the foreign exchange market, whereas outflows have increased significantly. Consequently, in order to mitigate these effects, the Central Bank has attracted liquidity from the market, which has led to an increase in interest rates. The National Bank will seek to balance this situation, the Bank official said. Political tension has also affected the Bucharest Stock Exchange, which yesterday recorded declines of almost 3% in the main indices, which continued to stagnate today.
MOTION – Romanian deputies today are debating a simple motion filed by AUR and POT against the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emil Hurezeanu, whom they blame for Romania being eliminated from the Visa Waiver program. Entitled “Romanian diplomacy in the Hurezeanu era: isolation as a strategy, irrelevance as a vocation and passivity as state policy. The story of a drifting foreign policy”, the motion will be debated later this afternoon. Another simple motion, filed against the Labor Minister, Simona Bucura Oprescu, was recently submitted to a vote in the Senate, without producing any effects.
CONCLAVE – The Vatican will deactivate its mobile phone network throughout its territory starting Wednesday afternoon, to prevent any interference or leakage of information during the conclave that will elect the successor to Pope Francis. The 133 cardinal electors will be locked in seclusion inside the Sistine Chapel starting Wednesday to vote in the conclave, where they are sworn to secrecy. For the same reason, Holy See technical staff have already turned off cameras and sensors inside the Chapel and have ensured that no recording devices remain inside. Any disclosure of conclave-related information will be punished with excommunication. The cardinal electors will vote in secret until one of them obtains a two-thirds majority of the votes and thus becomes the spiritual leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
GAZA – Israel is preparing to launch a new large-scale operation in Gaza, which may include seizing the entire strip, Reuters reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an “intensive” offensive campaign against the Hamas terrorist group on Monday, after his cabinet unanimously approved a plan in this regard, which also provides for the mobilization of thousands of reservists, as well as the management of humanitarian aid deliveries to civilians by the Israeli army. Gaza has been under a total blockade since Israel resumed operations there in March after a period of about two months of ceasefire. The new plan also provides for the resettlement of most civilians from Gaza to the southern areas of the enclave. Israeli officials have also suggested that Gaza could be occupied in the long term. The operation will begin only after US president Donald Trump visits the Middle East next week. Before that happens, Hamas still has time to release the hostages and accept a ceasefire, according to an Israeli official. (VP)
