International reactions to the Romanian referendum

The Romanian people showed little interest in a referendum on the redefinition of family, as seen from the low turnout that led to the invalidation of the ballot

România Internațional, 08.10.2018, 12:01

The referendum to redefine family in Romania has sparked a lot of international reactions. The German politician Udo Bullmann, the chairman of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament which also includes Romania’s Social Democratic Party, has welcomed the fact that the referendum did not garner the needed support to be validated.

In a statement posted on the Group’s website, Bullmann expressed hope that the Romanian government “will listen to voters and focus on the issues they care most about”. “The proposed change to the Constitution would have been a clear backwards step for LGBTI rights and we are glad that this intolerant idea of family did not receive the support of Romanian citizens”, the statement also reads.

The BBC notes that a referendum requested by pro-family groups in Romania to expand an already existing ban on same-sex marriage in the Constitution has failed due to low turnout. A little over 20% of the population showed up to vote, despite two days of voting and the support of the powerful Orthodox Church. According to the BBC, the result of the referendum will change nothing in practice, but it embarrasses the ruling Social Democrats, who strongly supported the referendum, while showing the lack of influence of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Reuters news agency notes that the referendum, which was held over the course of two days and cost 40 million dollars, did not gather enough votes to be validated.

Romania turns its back on the referendum to ban same-sex marriage, headlines the Spanish paper El Pais, and then writes: “The poor turnout cancels the result and brings a sigh of relief in Brussels, where there is concern about justice reforms and corruption in this country.

The failure is a blow to the Social Democratic government, which is affected by corruption scandals and the demands of the European institutions.” “Romanian conservatives wanted voters to limit definition of ‘family.’ They failed”, writes The New York Times, while noting that it failed spectacularly on account of the low turnout. (Translated by C. Mateescu)