Nationalists in Romania shake up pro-Wes • Table.Briefings

The right-wing populist Călin Georgescu has surprisingly won the first round of the presidential elections in Romania. The Social Democrats became the strongest force in the parliamentary elections, but nationalist parties won many votes.

After the parliamentary elections in Romania, it is to be expected that the pro-Western forces will form a coalition. However, the elections show that the country’s clear positioning on the side of the EU and NATO is no longer unanimously shared by the population.

It is not often that politicians apologize. Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis did so on the national holiday of Dec. 1, 2024. On the day that Romanian citizens elected their new bicameral parliament, Iohannis summed up his ten years in office as head of state and asked „for forgiveness, because over the course of time, I have made decisions that have left you dissatisfied.“

Nationalists in Romania shake up pro-Western course

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