Everything indicates that Romanians have mobilized in favor of the EU and NATO, after the shock of the recent victory of an ultra-pro-Kremlin candidate in the first round of the presidential elections. According to exit polls, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), currently in power, has obtained the 26% of the voteswhile the center-right Union to Save Romania (USR), also favorable to the EU, would achieve 15%. The feared pro-Russian far-right members of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians managed to and 19%. The elections have been marked by a high participation: around 44% four hours before the closing of the schools, much longer than that of previous callss.
In a few days, this eastern European country was shaken by the victory of the far-right candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential elections and the accusations from the authorities regarding the reliability of those elections. The authorities pointed to possible Russian influence and the role of the TikTok platformand the Constitutional Court decided count the votesa process that continues its course.
This Sunday, the polling stations remained open until 9:00 p.m., one hour less in Spain. In these legislative elections, the far-right appeared scattered in various formations that have in common their opposition to supporting Ukraine, in the name of “peace” and the defense of “Christian values.” Polls give this political trend 30% voting intention in the polls.
Florentina Nojaa 55-year-old engineer, decided to vote for “young candidates, less indoctrinated by the system.” “We need to distribute from scratch,” he told France Presse under the cloudy sky of Bucharest, although he expressed his fear that Romania would move away from the European path.
George Sorin, a 45-year-old economist, is clear: he will vote for a nationalist party. The current Parliament “did nothing but serve the interests of Ukraine, approving a series of aid without explaining anything” and forgetting about “the [intereses] of Romania,” he stated, also criticizing “the servility” towards Brussels.
“Stability or chaos”
The social democrats and liberals, who currently govern in coalition and who were very badly off in the presidential electionscalled to choose “between the stability and the chaos“, according to the message launched by the outgoing Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu. Along the same lines, President Klaus Iohannis stated that these elections are “crucial for the course of Romania in the coming years.”
Remain “a country of freedom, […] a modern European nation” or “fall into disastrous isolation and reconnect with a dark past,” that is “the existential choice we face today,” he warned.
This Sunday’s elections were also organized in a hectic atmosphere because the Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered a recount of the votes of the first round of the presidential elections, after a far-right MEP accused a party of having continued campaigning on the internet. beyond the permitted period. This would have allowed Elena Lasconiof the USR, qualify for the second round.
