May 16, 2025
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 16.05.2025, 13:55
Vote – Almost 40,000 Romanian citizens in the diaspora had voted, by noon, in the second round of the presidential election, most of them on supplementary lists. In the diaspora, voting began on Thursday evening, at 10 p.m. Romania’s time, with the opening of the first polling station abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. Abroad, the election was scheduled to take place over three days: May 16, 17 and 18. In the 965 polling stations around the world, Romanian citizens who are abroad on the voting day can vote, regardless of whether or not they have their domicile or residence outside the country. On Romanian territory, the second round of the presidential election will take place over a single day, Sunday, May 18, in about 19 thousand polling stations. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, 87 foreign journalists and 159 international observers were accredited. Running in the decisive round are the ultranationalist and populist leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, a self-proclaimed sovereigntist, and the pro-Western independent Nicușor Dan, the current mayor of Bucharest.
Summit – The sixth summit of the European Political Community is taking place today in the capital of Albania, Tirana, with the participation of 47 heads of state and government from European countries. High on the agenda of the meeting are such issues as regional security, energy and the enlargement of the European Union. Romania is represented at the summit by the interim president Ilie Bolojan, who also has on his agenda, the participation in the meeting of the leaders of the coordination group for the neighboring Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet country with a majority Romanian-speaking population), organized on the sidelines of the summit. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, the interim president will also pay a visit to the European Union military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EUFOR ALTHEA, which has been under Romanian command since January, for a period of one year.
Museums – Over 75 museum institutions, bringing together 210 spaces from across the country, will participate, on Saturday, in the 21st edition of the Night of Museums. An impressive number of specialists in the field of heritage and museum education will organize hundreds of activities for all categories of public, from the youngest visitors to the mature public, passionate about history, art, science and tradition. Thousands of visitors, especially young people and tourists, participated, last year, in Bucharest, in the 20th anniversary edition of the Night of Museums. The participating institutions offered the public interactive tours, exhibitions, screenings, presentations, urban installations, shows, workshops or street animations.
Meeting – The Romanian FM Emil Hurezeanu participated, on Wednesday and Thursday, in Antalya, in an informal meeting of the foreign ministers from NATO countries dedicated to negotiating the increase in military spending. He hailed the US and European efforts, in which Bucharest also participates, to establish ‘a comprehensive and lasting peace, supported by solid and credible security guarantees, as well as to continue offering assistance to Ukraine’. At the same time, Emil Hurezeanu highlighted the challenges that the security situation in the Black Sea region generates, including for the Republic of Moldova, Romania’s neighbor.
Statistics – Romania’s GDP stagnated in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter, and against the same quarter of 2024 the GDP growth was 0.2%, according to the estimates of the National Institute of Statistics (INS) published on Thursday. With the introduction of estimates regarding economic growth in the first 3 months of the year, the INS also recalculated the results recorded in the previous quarters, on the series that takes into account seasonality elements. Thus, the results for the first quarter of 2024, compared to the previous 3 months, were revised upwards by 0.3%. On the other hand, the results of the second, third and fourth quarters, compared to the corresponding previous quarters, were revised downwards by 0.1% each. Signal-type information is published faster, but is based on a limited set of data and does not provide details regarding the contribution of different sectors to economic growth.
Handball – Romania’s men’s national team will compete in Group B of the European Handball Championship – EHF EURO 2026, alongside Denmark, Portugal and North Macedonia, according to the Thursday evening’s drawing of lots. The final tournament will take place in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, between January 15 and February 1, 2026. In the women’s competition, Romania’s team is part of Pot 2 for the World Championship draw. The draw will take place on May 22, in the Netherlands, the host of the tournament, alongside Germany. The World Championship is scheduled between November 26 and December 14. (LS)
