Are you curious about the results of the latest local elections here in Romania, as well as the EU parliament election results? I am here to share all the details (as well as some personal opinions).
I will start by saying that there were no major surprises. I was expecting right-wing party AUR to cause a major upset, but they didn’t. So we could say that the biggest surprise is the lack of surprises.
But let’s get a bit more in-depth with both the Local Elections in Romania, as well as the EU Parliament ones!
NOTE: I am still updating the article, as, at the moment, we don’t have the full, official results (although little is expected to change).
EU Parliament Elections in Romania 2024
Preliminary results show the leading coalition (PSD and PNL) score a massive win, followed by right-wing party AUR, center-right electoral alliance ADU (USR, FD and PMP) and UDMR.
Here are the current, preliminary results:
- PSD and PNL alliance (CNR): 53%
- AUR: 15%
- ADU (USR, PMP, FD): 11%
- UDMR: 5%
- REPER: 3%
- SOSRO: 3%
- PUSL: 2%
- Others: 8%
What does this mean?
Even though I said that AUR didn’t cause a major shock, they still managed to rank second (they would’ve been third, had PSD and PNL worked separately, as they did until recently). AUR still got a pretty impressive amount of votes – 15%, above the USR-led coalition, which was the biggest loser imho.
However, if we look at the results and see that political party SOS also got around 3% (it’s another nationalist party created by a former AUR member – and just recently), we can say that the nationalists still did really well.
A major loss was recorded by the USR-led ADU alliance. In the 2019 EU parliament elections, USR and REPER got over 20% of the votes. Instead of growing or at least keeping the same amount of voters, they dropped A LOT in popularity.
I am personally most upset by the fact that REPER, the political party led by former prime minister Dacian Ciolos didn’t get enough votes (just 3%) – but again, it was no surprise, as this party was basically inactive, with no real presence in the media or the eyes of the public.
Local Elections in Romana in 2024
The latest local elections didn’t cause any upsets or major surprises either, but there were some changes in leadership here and there, the most notable being in Brasov, where current mayor Allen Coliban (USR) was apparently defeated by George Scripcaru (PNL).
Bucharest’s current mayor Nicusor Dan (independent) reportedly won his second term by a massive margin, with over 40% of the votes, well ahead of main counter-candidate Gabriela Firea (PSD), with just 25% of the votes.
Most other large cities were won by the current mayors: Dominic Fritz in Timisoara, Emil Boc in Cluj Napoca, Lia Olguța Vasilescu in Craiova, Vergil Chitac in Constanta, Mihai Chirica in Iasi, Florin Birta in Oradea, and Astrid Fodor in Sibiu.
There is one apparent surprise winner, too. In Ploiesti, independent candidate Mihai Polițeanu (formerly, a USR member) claimed victory, but not officially confirmed.
I am updating the article and gathering data. Check back often for new updates.
What do you think about the elections in Romania? Do you have any comments? Let us all know by sharing them below.
Sources (in Romanian language): Biroul Electoral Central, Digi, G4Media.
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The poor showing of the ADU and the USR disappointed me too. The ruling PSD/PNL coalition is going in the wrong direction in my opinion. Backsliding into corruption and less democracy doesn’t seem to bother Romanians. The Diaspora didn’t make itself felt this time? AUR is just anathema to me.
Unfortunately, the diaspora voted heavily for the right wing parties, pushing SOS RO into the EU Parliament and also giving AUR over 16% of their votes. Things are changing, for sure…
Calin, do you see a possibility over the next few years of the AUR and SOS actually becoming the largest parties and running the government? Could there be a repeat of the 1930s in Romania?
Sorry for the late reply. But yes – I believe that there is potential for these parties (AUR, most likely – or a brand new one following the same principles) to become an important player in Romania. This is the trend in Europe as a whole, with right-wing parties gaining more and more popularity.