March 20, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.03.2025, 19:54
Elections. As of Thursday, the list of candidates in the presidential election due this May in Romania is definitive, after the Constitutional Court on Wednesday turned down the last challenges submitted. There are eleven names, seven representing political groups, and four independent candidates. 12 candidates have been validated by the Central Electoral Bureau, but Anamaria Gavrila, leader of the Young People’s Party, has decided to withdraw from the electoral race. Their order on ballots is to be decided on Saturday.
Summit. The EU leaders attended a European summit in Brussels on Thursday. They reaffirmed their commitment to keep supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia and to keep up the pressure on the latter, but the declaration signed at the end of the summit did not mention the 40 billion euros in aid requested for Ukraine by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who participated in the discussions via videoconference, asked the European leaders to approve 5 billion euros in aid for shells for his army. The EU will continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support, according to the summit’s conclusions, which Hungarian conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused to sign. Romania was represented by acting President Ilie Bolojan, who is also attending the European Council meeting in Brussels on March 20-21. According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, on the sidelines of the event, a meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be organized, during which current global challenges will be discussed. A main point on the meeting’s agenda refers to ensuring European competitiveness, with three priority areas identified for debate: simplifying and reducing the administrative burden, consolidating the energy market and the union of economies and investments. At the same time, the latest developments regarding support for Ukraine will be addressed.
PNNR. The Romanian Government gathered on Thursday to analyze the measures meant to guarantee that the milestones set in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan are fully met, so that the entire amount allocated to Romania is disbursed. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he has started to visit construction sites, unannounced, especially where money from the NRRP is used, to see the status of the works. Also in Thursday’s session, the executive approved a financial aid of 580 million euros for large energy-consuming companies, which will allow them to be competitive on the international market. The Government has also approved over 400 million euros for the 2025 edition of the “Start-up Nation” program. Each young entrepreneur who will be admitted to this program will receive 50,000 euros to start a business or to develop the one they already have.
Fraud. Several influencers who campaigned on TikTok and other social media for the independent presidential candidate Călin Georgescu are being investigated by prosecutors. On Thursday morning, searches were carried out at 17 addresses in Bucharest and nine counties. Prosecutors also came again to the home of Bogdan Peşchir, about whom the Romanian Intelligence Service showed, in a document declassified by the Supreme Council of National Defense, that he financed Georgescu’s campaign on TikTok with over 380,000 euros. Members of the Pian clan were also targeted by the searches. They supported Georgescu’s campaign and received money on TikTok to promote the candidate with a pro-Russian and anti-Western speech. Declassified documents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Intelligence Service showed that the influencers were involved in promoting and buying votes. Judicial activities aim to establish links between those targeted by the searches and other individuals who could be involved in fraud in the electoral process and determine how they were paid.
Gaudeamus. The city of Craiova, in southern Romania, on Wednesday saw the opening of the first book fair part of the Radio Romania Gaudeamus Caravan this year. The event brings together some of the most prestigious publishing houses in Romania, book distributors, university publishing houses as well as suppliers of music and educational games. This edition’s honorary president is the Romanian-French playwright, poet and journalist, Matei Visniec. The Radio Romania Gaudeamus Caravan will continue to other major Romanian cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Buzau, Brasov, Sibiu and Iasi. The aforementioned events will be culminating with the Radio Romania Gaudeamus Book Fair to be staged in Bucharest soon. (MI)
