Latest news with #NicușorDan
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The EU gave Romania's migrant workers the chance to build a new life. Why are they turning against it?
It would be reasonable to assume that people who move from one EU country to another in search of work and opportunity are among the union's most reliable supporters. Freedom of movement within the 27-nation bloc is, after all, one of the big advantages of EU citizenship. But Romania's diaspora has recently upended that theory. With about a quarter of its 19 million citizens living abroad, mostly in western Europe, Romania has the largest diaspora in the EU. About two-thirds are economic migrants: picking fruit in Andalusia, caring for elderly people in Vienna, laying bricks in Brussels. In 2023 alone they sent home €6.5bn in remittances, almost 3% of Romania's GDP, sustaining communities across the country. In Romania's tense presidential re-run in May, the pro-Europe candidate, Nicușor Dan, carried the election, seeing off his far-right Eurosceptic challenger, George Simion, in the decisive round. After months of political chaos, the outcome drew sighs of relief across the EU. Complacency would be deeply unwise, however, because among Romanian voters abroad, Simion was the clear winner, scoring nearly 70% of the vote in diaspora-heavy countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain. For years, Romania's diaspora mostly supported centrist, pro-European candidates. So why would nearly 1 million of them embrace a candidate who questions Romania's place in the EU? Simion's inflammatory past statements about the EU include: 'We don't want to be secondhand citizens of this new Soviet Union.' Among Romanians working abroad, such sentiments appear to have struck a chord. The answer, for me, lies in years of political neglect: from Bucharest, host countries and Brussels alike, many Romanians feel invisible and unheard. The pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis deepened their discontent, which the far right has fanned and weaponised through disinformation and emotional manipulation, turning it into a potent political force. 'I know how hard it was for you to leave – your parents, your children, your roots,' Simion said in a campaign video addressed to diaspora voters in April. 'You are our nation's greatest wealth. Without you, we cannot rebuild anything that will endure.' Despite their crucial role in the prosperity of Romania and the EU at large, these migrant workers remain politically marginalised and underrepresented. The Turkish diaspora's support for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offers a cautionary parallel: alienation abroad can harden into authoritarian sympathy at home. Had the Romanian election been solely an indictment of the country's political establishment, Dan, with a record of fighting corruption as Bucharest's mayor, would surely have won more diaspora votes than Simion. But the opposite happened, because this vote was perceived to be more about dignity, recognition and a deep emotional reckoning than it was about anti-establishment credentials. For decades, the state's message to Romanians abroad has been blunt: send remittances, give us your vote, but don't expect representation. For years, state-funded organisations that supposedly support Romanians abroad have done little to meet the pressing needs of workers in host countries, such as legal aid, or Romanian language classes for children. Governments of the countries Romanians typically move to have not done much better. Despite theoretically enjoying equal treatment with workers in the host countries and protection from discrimination, Romanians in practice often face exploitative conditions, social exclusion and scant access to public services. For many of them, the promise of European opportunity has become a reality of European marginalisation. The pandemic made matters worse, as many, especially those in precarious or seasonal work, were excluded from social protection, healthcare and financial aid in their host countries, while Romanian authorities actively discouraged them from returning home. Rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis led to remittances falling sharply in 2024. This dual alienation created fertile ground for the far right – which Simion has exploited since founding AUR (the Alliance for the Union of Romanians) in 2019. True, by the 2024 presidential race, Simion's outsider appeal had faded, and he finished fourth in the first round of voting. But Simion was eclipsed by another ultra-nationalist, Călin Georgescu, who called the EU a 'pile of shards'. Georgescu also channelled diaspora discontent, but with even more radical language. Rejecting the 'diaspora' label, he called workers abroad 'the other Romania', saying they were the country's biggest investor and urging them to return. On social media, his promises were turbocharged by disinformation. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion It worked: in November 2024, Georgescu unexpectedly won the presidential election's first round. Romania's constitutional court annulled the election, citing foreign interference. Georgescu was consequently barred from entering the rescheduled 2025 race. For many abroad, this felt like yet another elite betrayal, which allowed Simion to inherit his base. With Dan now president, the diaspora's grievances are still simmering. A real shift is required: Romania must treat its diaspora as a political constituency in its own right, with sustained engagement and representation. At the EU level, a similar rethink is needed: diasporas must be recognised not just as economic agents, but as full political actors. Action will certainly be difficult in an era where the far right is advancing not just at home, but in Brussels. The surge in votes for far-right parties in the 2024 European elections made that clear. But the warning signs are flashing red. Leaders from Bucharest to Brussels only have a narrow window to respond. The alternative – continued far-right mobilisation of diaspora communities – threatens not just individual countries, but the European project as a whole. If the EU cannot maintain the loyalty of its own migrant workers, its long-term survival must surely be in doubt. Raluca Besliu is a Romanian journalist based in Brussels
Days of Palestine
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Over 500 Romanian Cultural and Artistic Figures Demand End to Gaza Genocide
DaysofPal- More than 500 Romanian cultural and artistic figures have signed a joint petition addressed to the Romanian authorities, calling for a firm stance against the Israeli aggression on Gaza and an immediate end to the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. According to the Palestinian News Agency, the petition was submitted to Romanian President Nicușor Dan and the Romanian government, urging them to pressure the Israeli government to halt its attacks and to stop the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The signatories emphasized that Romania should tie its commercial, cultural, and diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation to its adherence to international law. They also called for coordinated action with the European Union to impose sanctions and suspend the EU-Israel partnership agreement if violations continue. The petition strongly condemned the genocide unfolding in Gaza and criticized Israel's policies of domination and control. It urged Romanian officials to take an official position in support of the Palestinian people's rights. The signatories highlighted the importance of popular solidarity with the people of Gaza, especially with the extreme hardships faced by artists, educators, filmmakers, journalists, and writers, who are struggling to survive under a devastating blockade that has cut off access to basic necessities such as food, healthcare, and clean water. The petition warned that life in Gaza has become 'nearly impossible.' Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has waged a genocidal war on Gaza involving widespread killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring repeated international appeals and binding orders from the International Court of Justice to cease hostilities. The genocide, backed by the United States, has resulted in over 183,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, the majority of whom are women and children, along with more than 11,000 missing persons, and a humanitarian catastrophe marked by mass displacement and famine, claiming the lives of many, including children. Shortlink for this post:
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Romania's new president to visit Odesa on 11 June
Romanian President Nicușor Dan will visit Odesa on 11 June to attend the fourth Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit organised by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Source: a statement on the Romanian president's official website, as reported by European Pravda Details: The statement outlines that during the summit, Dan will reaffirm Romania's commitment to continued support for Ukraine at all levels and its involvement in efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, particularly through recovery initiatives. He will also highlight the importance of maintaining unity and a coordinated approach across the region represented at the summit, in order to protect the European continent's security as a whole. Particular attention will be paid to the Black Sea, especially in the context of safeguarding trade routes. While in Odesa, Dan will also take part in the first-ever high-level trilateral meeting between Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. Together with his counterparts, he will discuss key infrastructure cooperation projects – primarily in the energy sector – as well as EU accession processes and security cooperation. Background: President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić will also attend the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, marking his first visit to Ukraine. Dan officially took office on 26 May and made his first foreign visit to Vilnius for the summit of the Bucharest Nine and Northern European countries. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Fact-checking claims NATO troops are preparing to attack Russia
A video circulating online falsely claims to show British tanks ammassing in the Estonian capital of Tallinn as part of a NATO plan to "attack" the Russian city of St Petersburg. One post sharing the claim on X has been seen over 800,000 times. It wrongly claims that "NATO has arrived in Estonia. British soldiers and tanks in Tallinn plan to attack Saint Petersburg." At the time of publication of this article, no community notes cautioning users of the false information was added to the post on the Elon Musk-owned platform. The same claim has been amplified across several platforms including Instagram and Facebook. Euroverify found that the footage in fact shows the British Army's Royal Dragoon Guards in Tallinn on 24 February 2025 as part of a parade to celebrate Estonia's Independence Day. Over 1,000 Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) and NATO allied troops took part in that annual military parade to mark the 107th anniversary of Estonia's independence. Vehicles from the United Kingdom, France and the United States were part of the annual procession. Euroverify identified the site of the footage in the centre of Tallinn, near the Estonian Drama Theatre. The site can be seen in the image above captured from Google's Street View. The same address was closed for traffic during the parade to allow for the passage of tanks. A closer look at the number plate of the tank seen in the video (DT16AA) corresponds to a tank pictured by the Estonian press agency ERR taken during the Independence Day procession. According to fact-checkers at Reuters, the tank was pictured in Estonia between May and December 2024, proving that they had not "just arrived" in the Baltic country as online users claim. We can conclude with certainty that the video does not show a military escalation in Tallinn, but rather a tank being loaded onto a vehicle following the procession in February. The video has been re-circulating in recent weeks, accompanied by unfounded claims of a military escalation, just as troops from seven allied countries, including the UK and France, joined military drills in Estonia. Those drills, codenamed Exercise Hedgehog, are part of NATO's efforts to improve the "interoperability and integration" of allied forces, according to the alliance. The X account responsible for the false claim has made similar unfounded allegations about an impending "siege of Saint Petersburg" and constantly shares anti-NATO, pro-Kremlin disinformation Open source intelligence experts have linked the account to the Matryoshka campaign, described as a "coordinated" operation by the French cyber agency. Romania's new president, Nicușor Dan, has been officially sworn in, ushering in a tentative close to the worst political crisis to grip the European Union country in decades after the annulment of the previous election but several challenges lie ahead. Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former mayor of Bucharest decisively won the 18 May runoff, beating his hard-right opponent George Simion, who later challenged the results in the Constitutional Court but was rejected last week. At the inauguration ceremony in a joint session of Parliament, Dan signed the constitutional oath. In a speech afterwards, he promised to tackle Romania's economic woes and to be a president "open to the voice of society." "The Romanian state needs a fundamental I invite you to continue to be involved with all the social force you have proven, to put positive pressure on the institutions of the Romanian state so that they can reform," he said. "I assure you that I will be a president who listens to the voice of society and who is a partner to that society." The May election rerun was held months after the Constitutional Court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Călin Georgescu led the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied. The court's unprecedented decision last year plunged Romania, which is an EU and NATO member, into a period of unprecedented political turmoil. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. In the presidential runoff, Dan ran independently on an "Honest Romania" ticket, reaffirming Western ties, continued support for Ukraine and fiscal reforms. Addressing the economic challenges that lie ahead, Dan said that "put Romanian state is spending more than it can afford." "It is in the national interest for Romania to send a message of stability to financial markets. It is in the national interest to send a signal of openness and predictability to the investment environment," he said. Many observers viewed the election outcome as crucial to maintaining Romania's place within Western alliances, especially as the war continues in neighbouring Ukraine. At the same time, the continent scrambles to arm itself as the United States' commitment to European partners has waned under US President Donald Trump. As Dan begins his mandate, he faces the immediate challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government, a tall order in a country where a rejection of the political class led to the emergence of figures like Georgescu and Simion. Dan will also have to contend with a string of other crises, such as a large budget deficit, deep societal divisions exposed by the chaotic election cycle and the war that drags on next door. Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says that forming a new cabinet will be "a major test" that will indicate whether Dan is capable of mediating between the fragmented political parties. "Dan will face fierce resistance from the state apparatus and old politicians in his pursuit to start reforms," he told The Associated Press. "Although the economic crisis is urgent, the political and societal divisions are those that the new president has to address in the longer term." He added that, with populism growing in popularity, a deeper political crisis was "put on hold and a new one will be in the making" ahead of future elections. "The success of his presidency will decide if we can avert such a crisis or not," he said. A day after he won the presidency, Dan had a call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he conveyed to Rutte that Romania "will remain a steadfast ally" within the alliance. Dan first rose to public prominence as a civil activist with his Save Bucharest Association, tasked with saving built heritage and fighting against illegal real estate projects in a system he described as a "real estate mafia." He won hundreds of lawsuits. He also joined a wave of anti-corruption protests that gripped Romania through the mid-2010s. In 2016, he founded the reformist Save Romania Union party, at the time largely viewed as an anti-corruption party, but later left. In 2020, he successfully secured the mayorship of Bucharest and was elected last year for a second term. As mayor, Dan tackled some key infrastructure projects, such as modernising Bucharest's ageing residential heating systems, which previous mayors have been accused of neglecting.
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Dan sworn in as Romania's new president easing political crisis
Romania's new president, Nicușor Dan, has been officially sworn in, ushering in a tentative close to the worst political crisis to grip the European Union country in decades after the annulment of the previous election but several challenges lie ahead. Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former mayor of Bucharest decisively won the 18 May runoff, beating his hard-right opponent George Simion, who later challenged the results in the Constitutional Court but was rejected last week. At the inauguration ceremony in a joint session of Parliament, Dan signed the constitutional oath. In a speech afterwards, he promised to tackle Romania's economic woes and to be a president "open to the voice of society." "The Romanian state needs a fundamental I invite you to continue to be involved with all the social force you have proven, to put positive pressure on the institutions of the Romanian state so that they can reform," he said. "I assure you that I will be a president who listens to the voice of society and who is a partner to that society." The May election rerun was held months after the Constitutional Court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Călin Georgescu led the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied. The court's unprecedented decision last year plunged Romania, which is an EU and NATO member, into a period of unprecedented political turmoil. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. In the presidential runoff, Dan ran independently on an "Honest Romania" ticket, reaffirming Western ties, continued support for Ukraine and fiscal reforms. Addressing the economic challenges that lie ahead, Dan said that "put Romanian state is spending more than it can afford." "It is in the national interest for Romania to send a message of stability to financial markets. It is in the national interest to send a signal of openness and predictability to the investment environment," he said. Many observers viewed the election outcome as crucial to maintaining Romania's place within Western alliances, especially as the war continues in neighbouring Ukraine. At the same time, the continent scrambles to arm itself as the United States' commitment to European partners has waned under US President Donald Trump. As Dan begins his mandate, he faces the immediate challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government, a tall order in a country where a rejection of the political class led to the emergence of figures like Georgescu and Simion. Dan will also have to contend with a string of other crises, such as a large budget deficit, deep societal divisions exposed by the chaotic election cycle and the war that drags on next door. Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says that forming a new cabinet will be "a major test" that will indicate whether Dan is capable of mediating between the fragmented political parties. "Dan will face fierce resistance from the state apparatus and old politicians in his pursuit to start reforms," he told The Associated Press. "Although the economic crisis is urgent, the political and societal divisions are those that the new president has to address in the longer term." He added that, with populism growing in popularity, a deeper political crisis was "put on hold and a new one will be in the making" ahead of future elections. "The success of his presidency will decide if we can avert such a crisis or not," he said. A day after he won the presidency, Dan had a call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he conveyed to Rutte that Romania "will remain a steadfast ally" within the alliance. Dan first rose to public prominence as a civil activist with his Save Bucharest Association, tasked with saving built heritage and fighting against illegal real estate projects in a system he described as a "real estate mafia." He won hundreds of lawsuits. He also joined a wave of anti-corruption protests that gripped Romania through the mid-2010s. In 2016, he founded the reformist Save Romania Union party, at the time largely viewed as an anti-corruption party, but later left. In 2020, he successfully secured the mayorship of Bucharest and was elected last year for a second term. As mayor, Dan tackled some key infrastructure projects, such as modernising Bucharest's ageing residential heating systems, which previous mayors have been accused of neglecting.
