November 5, 2014 UPDATE

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Roxana Vasile, 05.11.2014, 12:15

CHALLENGES — Romania’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday turned down all challenges to the results of the first round of presidential elections, which was won by standing prime minister Victor Ponta, with 40.44% of the vote, followed by his main contender, the mayor of the city of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis, which won 30.37% of votes. For the second round, scheduled for November 16, Victor Ponta got the endorsement and the votes of former PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu, nationalist Greater Romania Party head Corneliu Vadim Tudor, and independent candidate Teodor Melescanu, former head of foreign intelligence. Iohannis announced he would not negotiate support with any other former candidate for the second round, and that he would speak to citizens directly.

SECOND BALLOT— Romanian voters abroad who wish to vote in the second round of presidential elections, on 16 November, may use the personal responsibility form posted on the website of the Election Bureau and the Foreign Ministry, which they can fill in at will, but have to sign in person in the presence of personnel at the polls, said the Central Election Bureau. At the same time, according to new regulations, polls abroad have to have their commissions with a full complement five days before the elections. These measures come after major irregularities at polls set up for Romanians abroad were reported in the first round of elections, which prevented thousands from voting.

VISA WAIVER — Romanian Senator Mircea Geoana, the chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Schengen Accession, has sent a letter to the new US Congress Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, asking him to include Romania and Poland in the Visa Waiver programme. Visa Waiver allows citizens from outside the US to travel to this country for tourist or business purposes over a period of up to 90 days without a visa. Senator Geoana recalls that Romania and the United States are bound by a strategic partnership. We recall that the US Senate on Tuesday was taken over by Republicans. The Republican Party had a majority in the House since 2010. The new Congress starts work on January 3rd.

FOOTBALL — Romania’s football champions, Steaua Bucharest, on Wednesday left for Portugal, where they play on Thursday in the return leg against Rio Ave, in J Group of the Europa League. In the first leg, Steaua beat its opponent 2-1. Steaua, having six points of nine possible, took first place in a group that includes Aalborg of Denmark and Dinamo Kiev of Ukraine. Also Thursday, in Group D, Romania’s vice-champions, Astra Giurgiu, meets at home Celtic Glasgow, after getting defeated in Glasgow 1-2. Astra has no points, and is last in its group, headed right now by the Celtics, a group that also includes Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia and Red Bull Salzburg of Austria.

UKRAINE — The Government in Kiev on Wednesday announced it would stop all public funding to separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine, where clashes between security forces and pro-Russian rebels have killed over 4,000 people since the beginning of the conflict in April. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said each inhabitant would be getting his social security payments once rebel troops pulled out from Donetsk and Luhansk, and Ukraine reclaimed these territories. Kiev and Western powers are accusing Russia of supporting rebel militias in eastern Ukraine. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker announced that Ukraine would be the first country he would visit outside the EU.

REVENUES — Migrants coming from the European Union in the past decade have brought 2 billion euros to Great Britain’s exchequer, according to a survey made public in London on Wednesday. The survey, carried out by University College London reveals that a quarter of the total sum comes from east-European migrants, who are often stigmatised in the UK. PM David Cameron wants to curb migration from the rest of the EU, ahead of parliamentary elections. He promised a referendum before 2017 on EU membership, if his Conservative Party wins the legislative elections of 2015.