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| Anatol Țăranu | |
For the Romanian citizens entitled to vote, the campaign prior to the European Parliament elections and the local elections has started and will end on June 8, at 07:00 a.m. The Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania announced that over 18.96 million citizens entitled to vote were there on the Electoral Register at the end of April. They are expected to go to the polls on June 9 to choose the local and county councilors, heads of county councils, mayors and also members of the European Parliament on behalf of Romania.
More polling stations in the Republic of Moldova
For the over one million Romanian citizens residing in the Republic of Moldova, this election offers the opportunity to demonstrate civic activism and attachment to the country by voting in the European Parliament elections, with 12 political parties and electoral alliances and four independent candidates being written on the ballot. On June 9, at 07.00 a.m., the voting will start and will end at 10:00 p.m.
Voters in all the EU countries will choose 720 members of the European Parliament in this election, by 15 more than in the previous elections. Romania will have 33 MEP seats, as in the current term that ends in June. In the Republic of Moldova, the Romanian members of the European Parliament could be elected at 52 polling stations that will be opened on June 9, by 16 more than in the previous European elections. Most of the polling stations, 13 in number, will be established in Chisinau, two polling stations will be opened in Balti and by one station in another 37 localities.
At the European Parliament elections held five years ago, 36 polling stations were established in the Republic of Moldova were, of which 12 were in Chisinau. Then, in 2019, almost 38,000 voters went to the polling stations in the Republic of Moldova, which constituted less than 6% of the potential voters. In that election, most of the votes cast by the Romanian citizens from the right side of the Prut River went to the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the People’s Movement Party (PMP), with the USR and the PSD finishing third and fourth.
The fact that Romania organizes polling stations outside the embassy and consulate compounds for the European Parliament elections is somewhat rarer in the EU, attesting to the phenomenon of the electorate “divided” into two states. Usually, in countries outside the Union, the only polling stations are established within diplomatic missions, but the case of the Republic of Moldova is a special one and demonstrates the special relations existing between two Romanian states.
Special interest in votes of Moldovan electors
In the current campaign prior to the European Parliament elections, the major Romanian parties demonstrate a special interest in the votes of the electors from the Republic of Moldova. First of all, this attitude is shown by representatives of the alliance between the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), currently in power in Romania, whose leaders have visited Chisinau lately, promising to support the Republic of Moldova in all ways in the process of joining the EU. The United Right Alliance also expressed a similar message in Chisinau, insisting that the integration of the Republic of Moldova into the EU must be decoupled from Ukraine.
Another influential party on the Romanian political arena, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), claims that it will give increased priority to the “peaceful reunification” with the Republic of Moldova and will take the necessary steps for the Romanians in the Republic of Moldova to obtain the same status as those in Romania. But the AUR led by George Simion, who was recently banned from entering the Republic of Moldova because he allegedly contributes to the destabilization of the Moldovan state, has problematic chances to garner many votes on the left side of the Prut River. In the snap parliamentary elections of 2021, the branch in the Republic of Moldova of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) gained only 0.49% of the vote, failing even close to repeat the successful electoral result in Romania. Through this result, the AUR certifies the principled difference of the Euro-unionist electorate in the Republic of Moldova, which differs greatly by its political aspirations from the AUR voters from the right side of the Prut.
The latest sociological polls show that the appreciable majority of Romanian voters are ready to vote in the European Parliament elections for the list of the PSD-PNL Alliance. To an even greater extent, this prognosis is valid for the voters from the Republic of Moldova. Just as it is obvious that the role of the main electoral traction force in this case belongs to the PNL, which traditionally enjoys the massive support of Moldovan voters with Romanian citizenship. At the meeting of PNL.ro supporters organized in Chisinau, the party’s leader Nicolae Ciucă said that the members of his party “cross the Prut River more and more often” and that Romania stands by the Republic of Moldova unconditionally on its European path.
Performance of European Romania
In promotional materials for the European Parliament elections, the PNL draws the voters’ attention to the fact that Romanians’ lives have changed significantly after the country joined the EU. Only in terms of welfare, from 2006 to 2024, the standard of living of the population in Romania, reflected by the purchasing power index, grew more than twice, from 34% to 76% against the European average. The average net salary in Romania also increased during this period, from €246 to €922. In the Republic of Moldova, which remains outside the EU, the purchasing power compared to the European average is only 26.6%, which shows that the standard of living of the Moldovan citizen is three times lower than in Romania.
The Republic of Moldova missed the opportunity to join the EU together with Romania and remained in the gray zone of Europe under Russian influence, being condemned to three decades of underdevelopment. For its part, Romania, during this period, showed the most dynamic development in Europe, according to a number of rankings, being a post-Communist country that grew economically the most spectacularly in the last 30 years. In terms of socioeconomic development, Romania surpassed Hungary in 2023, according to the main indicator measuring the welfare of the European Union countries. According to 2023 EU data, Romania’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, expressed in Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs), exceeded Hungary’s. Romania had long lagged behind in these rankings, along with Bulgaria, which it has left far behind, surpassing other European countries.
The Romanian economic miracle was and is possible due to the access to EU development funds, including the capacity to absorb these funds as a beneficiary state. Today Romania attracts 96% of the available European funds, which has transformed the Romanian economy from one based on consumption into one that grows through investments. Since the entry in 2007 until the end of February 2024, Romania has effectively received €64.3 billion from the European Union – over 90% of the amount made available from the European budget. In the period, Romania’s contribution to the EU was only €29 billion. In the current financing program, the one for 2021-2027, Romania was allocated €55.3 billion for a series of financing programs, including for the cohesion fund, regional development, just transition, etc.
Massive voter turnout required
After the June 9 elections, Romania will send to Brussels 33 MEPs representing the fifth mandate of Romanian elected officials after the accession. The voters with Romanian citizenship from the Republic of Moldova will have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the election of the Romanian political team in the new composition of the European Parliament, including by mandating the Romanian MEPs to promote the interests of the Republic of Moldova in the European legislature.
In this connection, a massive voter turnout is required in Moldova eastward the Prut River to facilitate the Romanian MEPs’ mission to support the Republic of Moldova in the European legislature. As one of the PNL’s leaders, Rareș Bogdan, recently stated, “the biggest victory for the PNL, for the PSD-PNL coalition in the future European Parliament would be for the Republic of Moldova to come instead of the UK in the EU. How nice it would be for the Republic of Moldova to be the 28th state! It would be wonderful!”, said the leader of the Romanian liberals. The Romanian voters in the Republic of Moldova have only to contribute, through a large vote on June 9, to the realization of the dream of the Romanians from both banks of the Prut River to reunify the nation through the European civilization project.
IPN publishes in the Op-Ed rubric opinion pieces submitted by authors not affiliated with our editorial board. The opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the opinions of our editorial board.