May 17, 2025 UPDATE 2
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 17.05.2025, 20:00
ELECTIONS By 5:00 p.m. Bucharest time on Saturday, over half a million voters from abroad had cast their ballots for the election of the president of Romania, almost double the figure in the first round 2 weeks ago. A higher turnout was reported in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, the Republic of Moldova and Spain. Voting in the diaspora is taking place under good conditions, with no glitches in polling stations, no crowding or other incidents, and the electoral process is taking place legally and transparently, the Romanian foreign ministry also said on Saturday. In the 965 polling stations in the diaspora organised for this year’s presidential elections, Romanian citizens who are abroad on election day can vote on Friday through Sunday, regardless of whether they reside outside the country or not. In Romania, voting will take place over a single day, Sunday, May 18, in 18,979 polling stations. Running in the decisive round of the presidential election are the leader of AUR (nationalist opposition), George Simion, also supported by the Party of Young People (POT), and the independent mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, backed by the parliamentary parties USR, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and by several parties outside Romania’s Parliament. In the first round, on May 4, Simion received almost 41% of the votes, and Dan about 21%.
CAMPAIGN Around 43,000 employees of the Romanian interior ministry will maintain public safety and ensure the protection of polling stations on election day, the interior ministry spokesperson Monica Dajbog announced on Saturday. According to her no special incidents were reported during the campaign. “42 possible electoral incidents were reported. Approximately 53% of the reports were related to campaign posters. Four reports, which were not within the jurisdiction of the interior ministry, were forwarded to the Permanent Electoral Authority and the Central Electoral Bureau,” Dajbog explained.
VISIT The acting president of Romania Ilie Bolojan visited the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina – EUFOR Althea. The president was accompanied by the chief of the defence staff, General Gheorghiţă Vlad. In January 2025, Romania took over the command of EUFOR Althea, thus consolidating its active role in supporting peace and stability in the region, according to the Romanian Presidency. This mission is the most important multinational operation in the Western Balkans, carried out under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Romania currently leads 2 of the 9 military missions of the European Union, contributing personnel and equipment. Before the visit to Bosnia, Bolojan was in Tirana, Albania, for the 6th summit of the European Political Community, attended by 47 heads of state and government from countries on the continent.
POLAND The candidate of the Civic Coalition (in power), Rafal Trzaskowski, currently the mayor of Poland’s capital city Warsaw, continues to lead in opinion polls ahead of the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday, with 29-32% of the votes. He is followed by Karol Nawrocki, head of the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland and representing the conservative opposition, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), with 25-27%, and the far-right Confederation party’s candidate Slawomir Mentzen, with 12-13%. If none of the candidates gets at least 50% of the votes in the first round, a runoff will be held on June 1.
PORTUGAL The moderate right-wing ruling coalition, the Democratic Alliance (AD), is seen as the most likely to win Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Portugal, with 34% in voting intention polls. The socialist opposition stands at 26%, and the far-right party Chega (“Enough”) at 19%. AD could win up to 95 seats out of the total 230 in parliament, below the threshold of 116 deputies needed for an absolute majority. According to international media, AD hopes to negotiate the support of the Liberal Initiative party, currently at 7% of the voting intentions. (AMP)
