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Romania In Turmoil After Parliamentary Elections (Worthy News Radio)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUCHAREST/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Romania’s pro-EU and pro-NATO parties appeared to be holding off the far right in a parliamentary election on Sunday, but the strength of the radical vote suggested that an ultranationalist, pro-Russian candidate could still win the presidency this month.

Romania’s Constitutional Court decided on Monday to certify the country’s first round of presidential elections, allowing the December 8 runoff to proceed as scheduled.

However, Călin Georgescu’s success did not lead to a victorious outcome for parties supporting him in Sunday’s separately held parliamentary vote. With most ballots counted, initial results showed Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) winning with roughly 22.3 percent of the vote, followed by the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) with about 18.3 percent.

Analysts said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu’s PSD must form a coalition to govern that could include the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), its current governing partner, and others.

However, the victory of pro-EU and pro-NATO was welcome news for voters such as Durian Burcea, a marketing specialist.

“As a person who lived a little bit under communism and still remembers it, and at the same time could enjoy all this openness of the European Union, to travel, to have the borders open, to be able to go to other countries, I can’t imagine how we could have another option other than being part of the European Union and NATO military alliance,” she said.

LONGING FOR CHANGE

Andreea Damian, a nurse, still hopes others will govern Romania, a nation of 19 million people. “Yes, I would like a change to see what other politicians can do for us. I want this, and I hope things can be better,” she explained.

However, the election outcome was due to be welcomed in Brussels. That’s because Romania, an EU and NATO member state, has a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine and is crucial in Western support for Kyiv.

In addition to providing military aid to its war-torn neighbor, Romania allowed the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta.

There has been Western concern that the pro-Russia candidate, Călin Georgescu, an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Observers said his victory in the first presidential election round was partly due to his wildly successful campaign on social platform TikTok, which officials claimed was backed by Russia, charges Moscow denies.

The Constitutional Court ordered a ballot recount for the first round of the presidential election after one of the 13 candidates alleged fraud.