Diana Șoșoacă’s exclusion follows expulsion of front-runner Călin Georgescu from race amid rising tension around poll
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Șoșoacă, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll.
Earlier in March, the electoral bureau barred Călin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40% before the rerun election.
Continue reading...Cǎlin Georgescu to contest decision to bar him from election rerun in May after claims of Russian meddling
Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.
Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.
Continue reading...Inquiry launched after pair was able to fly into state despite facing trial in Romania on rape and trafficking charges
The attorney general of Florida has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after the pair were able to fly into the state last week despite facing trial in Romania on charges of rape, sex with a minor, people trafficking and money laundering.
James Uthmeier, appointed to be the state attorney general by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, said on Tuesday he had begun an “active criminal investigation” of the brothers and was prepared to use the “full force of law” in his examination of their conduct.
Continue reading...Mohamed Amra’s arrest ends nine-month manhunt when armed assailants ambushed prison convoy in Normandy
A notorious French fugitive who staged a deadly escape that killed two guards last year has been extradited from Romania to France, days after his arrest in Bucharest ended a nine-month international manhunt.
Mohamed Amra, nicknamed “The Fly”, was arrested near a shopping centre in Bucharest on Saturday after being identified by Romanian police, despite having dyed his hair red, possibly to evade detection. The Bucharest court of appeal approved his extradition request on Sunday.
Continue reading...Revered Helmet of Coțofenești among items from ancient Dacian civilisation stolen while on loan at Drents Museum
Hours before the sun rose over the Netherlands, the group crowded around the large external door, appearing to pry it open. Seconds later, the grainy security video appeared to show a powerful explosion, sending plumes of smoke and sparks into the air, and the thieves rush into the museum in the north-eastern city of Assen.
Minutes later they were gone. But the mystery of what exactly took place during their few minutes in the Drents Museum – and what came afterwards – has left officials in the Netherlands scrambling for answers, and prompted a row that has stretched to the other side of Europe.
Continue reading...Centre-left PSD looks to have held off far-right challenge, with 70% of Romanians voting for mainstream parties
Romania’s ruling Social Democrat party (PSD) was on course to win the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, holding off a strong far-right surge that could yet deliver the country’s presidency to a Moscow-friendly ultranationalist.
Amid uncertainty as to whether the constitutional court would on Monday order the first round of the presidential ballot to be rerun, officials said that with 99.5% of votes counted, the centre-left PSD was credited with 22.6% of the vote.
Continue reading...Exit poll suggests leftwing PSD poised to defeat resurgent far-right movement in parliamentary election
Romania’s main centre-left party was on track to finish first in parliamentary elections, according to early exit polls, seemingly beating an advancing far right boosted by the shock victory of an ultranationalist in last week’s presidential first-round ballot.
The ruling Social Democratic party (PSD) was forecast to receive 26% of the vote, ahead of the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) on 19%, while the National Liberal party (PNL) and centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) were vying for third on 15-16%.
Continue reading...Court has ordered recount of vote won by far-right candidate and will decide whether it needs to be rerun
Romania’s constitutional court has deferred a decision on whether to annul the first-round vote in the country’s presidential election until Monday, a day after parliamentary elections in which far-right parties are forecast to post major gains.
The court, which had already ordered a recount, considered for two hours on Friday a request to annul the 24 November vote, which was won by Călin Georgescu, a far-right, Moscow-friendly independent who had previously been polling at barely 5%.
Continue reading...Recheck of result of the first round, won by Călin Georgescu with Elena Lasconi second, likely to take days
Romania’s constitutional court has ordered a recount of all first-round votes to rule out a suspicion of fraud in the country’s presidential election, which was won in a major upset by a little-known far-right candidate.
The court said on Thursday it had decided unanimously to order Romania’s central electoral bureau to “recheck and recount all valid and invalid ballots” cast in Sunday’s election, won by the Moscow-friendly ultranationalist Călin Georgescu.
Continue reading...Far-right, pro-Moscow candidate Călin Georgescu came from 5% in polls to win presidential election’s first round
Romania’s telecoms regulator is asking for TikTok to be suspended as the country’s defence council prepares to discuss cyber risks to its elections, after a little-known ultranationalist came from nowhere to win the first round of the presidential vote.
The country’s constitutional court will also examine two allegations of electoral fraud after Călin Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly, EU-sceptic and anti-Nato independent, topped the ballot in a result that upended Romanian politics.
Continue reading...Călin Georgescu, a critic of Nato, says people have ‘cried out for peace’ after he heads into runoff with 22.9% of vote
An ultranationalist, Moscow-friendly Nato critic is set to face a centre-right candidate in the runoff of Romania’s presidential elections after a shock first-round result that has upended the country’s politics and could jeopardise its support for Ukraine.
With 99.98% of votes counted, Călin Georgescu, an independent who has praised Vladimir Putin as “a man who loves his country”, was on 22.9%, with the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union (USR), second on 19.17%.
Continue reading...Sunday’s election could lead to a battle between far-right’s George Simion and Marcel Ciolacu of Social Democrats
Romanians are casting ballots on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could pit a far-right nationalist against the incumbent leftist prime minister in the runoff.
Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidency in the EU and Nato member country and the vote is expected to go to a second round on 8 December. Polls opened at 7am local time (05.00 GMT) and will close at 9pm. Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday.
Continue reading...Deadly Storm Boris has dumped up to five times average September rainfall in four days
As swollen rivers continued to rise, volunteers and emergency workers in towns and cities across a swathe of central Europe were reinforcing defences against floods that have killed at least 21 people in four countries.
Storm Boris has dumped up to five times the average September rainfall on parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in four days, submerging entire neighbourhoods and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.
Continue reading...Czech Republic, Poland and Austria fear worst may yet be to come as thousands are evacuated to higher ground
The death toll from torrential rain and flooding in central and eastern Europe has risen to at least 16, with several more people missing, as authorities reported deaths in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria and warned the worst may be to come.
The number of victims in Poland rose to five after a surgeon returning from work drowned in the south-western town of Nysa, where the hospital was evacuated and patients rescued by raft. Four more people had died in the southern towns of Bielsko-Biała and Lądek-Zdrój, firefighters said.
Continue reading...Experts unsurprised at intensity of extreme weather but say damage wreaked shows how unprepared world is
Picturesque towns across central Europe are inundated by dirty flood water after heavy weekend rains turned tranquil streams into raging rivers that wreaked havoc on infrastructure.
The floods have killed at least 15 people and destroyed buildings from Austria to Romania. The destruction comes after devastating floods around the world last week when entire villages were submerged in Myanmar and nearly 300 prisoners escape a collapsed jail in Nigeria, where floods have affected more than 1 million people.
Continue reading...Storm Boris has caused rivers to burst banks and trapped people in their homes across Austria, Poland and Slovakia
Seven people have drowned in Austria, Poland and Romania and four others are missing in the Czech Republic as Storm Boris continues to lash central and eastern Europe, bringing torrential rain and floods that have forced the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes.
Swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been battered by high winds and unusually fierce rains since Thursday.
Continue reading...Social media influencer and brother among six detained for crimes including trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors
A Romanian court has ordered Andrew Tate to be placed under house arrest, his representative said, after he was among six people taken into custody in an investigation into human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The former professional kickboxer and his brother Tristan were among six people detained on Wednesday for an initial 24 hours after Romania’s anti-organised crime prosecuting unit, Diicot, conducted four house searches in Ilfov county and the Bucharest municipality.
Continue reading...Romania’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, said he will boycott the Olympic closing ceremony after his country were denied a medal in the women’s gymnastics.
Ana Barbosu had already begun celebrating her bronze for the floor event on Monday when coaches for Jordan Chiles, of the United States, entered an appeal to judges over Chiles’s score. The inquiry resulted in a 0.1 boost for Chiles, enough to overtake Barbosu for the last spot on the podium.
Continue reading...Highway that consolidated Roman empire joins modernist Romanian sculptures as latest sites added to list
Italy’s Via Appia Antica, or Appian Way, the earliest and most important road built by the ancient Romans, has been named a Unesco world heritage site, making Italy the country with the world’s highest number of locations on the coveted list.
Known as the Regina Viarum, or Queen of Roads, it connected Rome with the port of Brindisi in the south and marked a revolution in the construction of roads.
Continue reading...MPs approve cull of 481 bears this year, up from 220 last year, to control ‘overpopulation’ of protected species
Romania’s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year in an effort to control the “overpopulation” of the protected species after a deadly attack on a hiker sparked nationwide outcry.
The country is home to 8,000 brown bears, according to the environment ministry, Europe’s largest brown bear population outside Russia.
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