Romania is committed to ensuring its May presidential vote do-over is fair and transparent, after the election in December was annulled interim President Ilie Bolojan told a U.S. Congress delegation on Wednesday.
The election will be re-run on May 4 and 18 after the Constitutional Court invalidated the initial ballot following accusations of Russian meddling in favor of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who has been banned from standing in the May election. Moscow has denied interfering in the vote.
The cancellation led to a dispute between Europe and the new U.S. President Donald Trump administration over free speech and suppressing political opponents.
“As regards the 2024 election process, the interim president said Romania has learned the necessary lessons and that state institutions are committed to ensuring a fair, transparent election in full agreement with democratic standards,” the Romanian president’s office said.
“They were happy with the clarifications about the cancellation of the elections,” Hotnews reported, citing Romanian officials. The US officials did not comment on the elections.
Bolojan met a bipartisan delegation of eight U.S. members of Congress, the first visit by U.S. officials since the election was voided.
He underlined the importance of consolidating American troops in Romania and the Black Sea at a time when the Pentagon is considering withdrawing troops from Europe.
Bolojan “stressed that Romania actively contributes to the security of NATO’s Eastern Flank, and close cooperation with the US is essential for effective deterrence.”
Florida Republican Representative Vern Buchanan told reporters after meeting with Romanian lawmakers that:”We have a lot of companies that come here, create good jobs, we want more good-paying jobs here and more companies, so that’s why we’re here,”
Romanian hard-right opposition leader George Simion is the favorite ahead of the election’s first round, but not necessarily in the runoff, a survey conducted by polling institute AtlasIntel.
