Romania votes to elect new president

(ANSA) - BUCAREST, NOV 24 - In Romania, votes are being cast today to elect a new president destined to succeed liberal Klaus Iohannis, who led the Balkan country for two five-year terms and who by law could no longer run for office. Polls agree that it is unlikely that any of the 14 candidates will establish themselves as early as this first round by surpassing 50 percent plus one of the preferences, and therefore it will most likely be necessary to wait for the runoff round between the two top vote-getters, already scheduled for Dec. 8, to know who will be the new head of state. There are no great favorites, although those with the best chances of success, according to the forecasts of demoscopic institutes, seem to be the incumbent premier, Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu (Pds, the heir party of the old Communist Party), the leader of the sovereignist far-right under the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Aur) George Simion, given a significant rise, former liberal premier Nicolae Ciuca (NLP) and conservative Elena Lasconi (Union Save Romania, Usr). Ciolacu, despite the many cases of corruption and irregularities involving members of his party in recent years, is credited with 24 percent to 25 percent of the consensus, compared with 15 percent to 18 percent for Simion, who in statements to Politico yesterday stressed the closeness of his positions to Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni. On smaller percentages can count Ciuca and Lasconi, although surprises are not excluded. The list of candidates includes among others Mircea Geoana, a former foreign minister and former ambassador to the U.S., who recently ended his term as deputy secretary general of NATO, and who presents himself as an independent. She noted in the campaign how her broad international experience could be very useful for the leadership of the country, whose strategic position on NATO's southeastern flank assumes particular relevance in light of the protracted Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. Between the first and likely second rounds of presidential elections, Romania will also vote in parliamentary elections on December 1. Romanian citizens living abroad began voting for the presidential elections as early as last Friday, including Italy where the Romanian community is particularly large and where 157 polling stations have been set up. Open from 7 a.m. local time, polling stations will close at 10 p.m. (6-9 p.m. Italian time), with the first results expected in the evening. Romania is a member of NATO and the European Union, which it joined in 2007 along with Bulgaria. For both of these Balkan countries, the possibility of full membership in the Schengen area from next January has become concrete, after Austria lifted its veto for their membership relatively to land borders as well. In recent months Bucharest and Sofia had joined Schengen but only for air and sea crossings. (ANSA).