Romanian run-off the most crucial vote on Europe's ‘Super Sunday' of elections
Romanians
are voting in a pivotal presidential run-off that could radically alter their country's strategic alignment and economic prospects, as voters in
Poland
and
Portugal
also cast their ballots in a European electoral 'super Sunday'.
The Romanian contest, the most consequential of the three, pits a brash,
EU
-critical, Trump-admiring populist against a centrist independent in a knife-edge vote that analysts have called most important in the country's post-communist history.
George Simion, a former soccer ultra and ultranationalist agitator who sees his far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party as a 'natural ally' of the US Maga movement, comfortably won the May 4th first round with a score of 41 per cent, double that of the Bucharest mayor, Nicuşor Dan.
Recent polls have shown the gap between the two candidates closing, with one putting them neck and neck and another placing Mr Dan – who has described the vote as a battle between 'a pro-western and an anti-western Romania' – ahead.
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'This election isn't just about the president of Romania but about its entire direction,' said Siegfried Mureşan, a liberal Romanian MEP. Mr Simion would 'weaken Europe's unity, undermine support for Ukraine, and benefit only Vladimir Putin,' he added.
In Poland, 13 contenders are vying to be the country's next head of state in the first round of presidential elections, with the centrist mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, a senior member of prime minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition, the front-runner.
Polls predict that Mr Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki, a historian who is formally independent but has been endorsed by the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, will advance to the second round, which is due on June 1st.
A win for the centrist would boost Mr Tusk's ability to push through his reformist agenda, which has been hampered by Polish presidents' power to veto legislation passed by parliament. The outgoing president, Andrzej Duda, is a PiS ally.
Portugal, meanwhile, heads to the polls for its third snap general election in three years after the centre-right prime minister, Luís Montenegro, triggered and lost a confidence vote in parliament over questions about his family's business activities.
Mr Montenegro's Democratic Alliance platform is forecast to finish first but fall short of a majority, and could struggle to form a government, especially if the Socialist party, likely to finish second, keeps its pledge to oppose his legislative agenda.
Mr Montenegro has vowed not to work with the far-right Chega, whose leader, former TV football pundit André Ventura, was hospitalised on Friday after twice collapsing at rallies, but could be replaced as party leader with someone more Chega-compatible.
In Romania, Mr Simion's first-round win triggered the collapse of Romania's government of centre-left Social Democrats (PSD) and centre-right Liberals (PNL), and whoever wins will nominate the next prime minister and influence the formation of a new ruling coalition.
The vote is a rerun of last November's ballot, won by a far-right, Moscow-friendly firebrand, Călin Georgescu, who was barred from standing again after the vote was cancelled amid allegations of campaign finance violations and Russian meddling.
Mr Simion has promised to nominate Mr Georgescu, who is under formal investigation on counts including misreporting campaign spending, illegal use of digital technology and promoting fascist groups, as prime minister if he becomes president.
Romanian presidents have a semi-executive role with considerable powers over foreign policy, national security, defence spending and judicial appointments. They can also dissolve parliament if MPs reject two prime ministerial nominations.
Analysts have said that since neither PSD or PNL would want a snap election with Mr Simion's AUR – the second biggest party in parliament – in the ascendant, a minority AUR-led government, backed perhaps by PSD, is a clear possibility if Mr Simion wins.
Mr Simion opposes further aid to Ukraine and has sharply criticised the EU's leadership. While he insists he wants Romania to stay in the EU and Nato, he could ally with Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico as another disruptive force. – Guardian
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Poland's Donald Tusk faces no confidence vote after election failure
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Irish Times
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Letters to the Editor, June 5th: On immigration, trade union dues and red squirrels
Sir, – Michael McDowell (' EU cannot ignore what's happening in Poland and the Netherlands ,' Opinion, June 4th) presents a cynical view of so called 'EU fragility' in the face of populism. The real threat to European stability is not migration, but far-right nationalism and the failure of democrats to sufficiently oppose it. EU immigration policy is being misrepresented by people like Mr McDowell. According to Eurostat, more than 72 per cent of non-EU immigrants of working age in the EU are employed, a figure that exceeds employment rates in many native-born populations. These individuals are not a burden; they are essential to keeping European economies functioning, particularly in care, construction, and the service and transport industries. READ MORE Instead of platforming opposition to immigration, European leaders should be articulating an opposition to fascist ideologies now resurgent across the world. The lesson of the 1930s was that appeasement emboldens extremists. Migration scapegoating is nothing less than cowardice in the face of this new fascism. The EU faces a demographic crisis. Eurostat projects that by 2050 the EU's working-age population will shrink by nearly 50 million. Without inward migration, welfare systems will become unsustainable. The only viable path forward is a managed migration system that upholds European values while addressing real economic needs. Poland and the Netherlands may be warning signs, but not for the reasons Mr McDowell suggests. The real crisis is not federalism, but the failure to confront the anti-democratic forces undermining it from within. – Yours, etc, DECLAN DOYLE, Kilkenny. Whither the weather? Sir, – In this time of world chaos and such turmoil, I was comforted in my bed early this morning listening to the weather forecast to hear that the showers heading in our direction in the Northwest were organised as opposed to scattered as predicted elsewhere in the country. We always knew we were different up here in Donegal and as regards the weather can we speak urgently with the organiser? – Yours, etc, JOHN O'CONNELL, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. Paying trade union dues Sir, – The trade union Fórsa has called on the Government to 'require workers who benefit from salary deals . . . to pay dues or subscriptions [to trade unions] even if they are not members' in order to prevent them from 'free-riding' on the benefits of those deals (' Public sector union calls for non-members benefiting from salary deals to be forced to pay dues ,' June 2nd). The obvious question is, if the Government was to effectively force workers to join trade unions, then why stop there? Should people also be forced to donate to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, to prevent them from 'free-riding' on government decisions which they benefit from? Or what about forcing people to join a church and contribute to it, to prevent them from 'free-riding' on the prayers of others? The possibilities are endless. Would Fórsa also support these outcomes? Thankfully, we have a Constitution which protects freedom of association and prevents the State from forcing anyone to join or contribute directly to any private organisation. The general secretary of Fórsa is paid €186,000 per annum, three times the average salary of the public sector workers who they want to force to fund its operations. The suggestion that the Oireachtas should enforce some form of 'closed shop' to pay for this harks back to a time decades ago when trade unions expected, as of right, a 'cut' of any benefits gained by workers. – Yours etc BARRY WALSH, Clontarf, Dublin 3. Miracle required Sir, – Stephen O'Sullivan reflects on the unhappy fate of 'people who have borne the title of 'tsar' in its myriad linguistic variations' (Letters, June 3rd). Among those he lists is Karl I of Austria-Hungary. While his fate at the end of the first World War was indeed unfortunate, it seems that he enjoys the very best of what the afterlife has to offer, having been beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004 – and the cause for his canonisation is active. Another miracle is required for his canonisation. Maybe we should pray to him to solve the housing crisis in Ireland. Interceding with him for that miracle would likely be more efficacious than appointing a 'housing tsar'. – Yours, etc, FELIX M LARKIN, Cabinteely, Dublin 18. Funding the arts Sir, – The recent controversy surrounding the Arts Council's €6.6 million spend on a failed IT project invites a deeper conversation – not only about financial oversight, but about how arts funding is structured in this country. Too often, when additional money flows into the sector, it's accompanied by a parallel growth in consultancy, compliance, and oversight roles. 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The first settlers of Ireland, Western European hunter-gatherers from approximately 8000 BC, were few and were eventually absorbed by Neolithic farmers arriving from 6000 years ago. That small population was in turn replaced by Bronze Age settlement starting around 2500 BC. There is genetic evidence to suggest the farmers were overwhelmed by the metallurgists. Around 80-85 per cent of Irish males carry the R1b-M269 haplogroup from this Bronze Age settlement. This is a simplified example from the hugely complex area of study on genetic variation in Ireland, but nonetheless it is true. Later invasions by Vikings, Anglo-Normans, the English plantations, and normal migration have had modest effects on genetic continuity from the 4500-year-old Bronze Age settlements of Ireland. Distinct ancestral genetic contributions noted among the Japanese population, or the Egyptian population, as random examples, would not lead, I hope, to their people ever being described as mongrels. A wholly homogeneous tribe would be extremely rare on earth, but that doesn't stop us recognising and respecting other people's tribal ethnicities. While the Irish have happily welcomed many to our land, it must be noted that geographical placement and low ancestral mobility has meant that, contrary to the rather startling descriptors used in your headline, we have been for at least four millennia a relatively homogenous, indigenous people. – Yours, etc, DEIRDRE CALLERY, Blacklion, Co Cavan. Sir, – As an Irish woman, I am deeply offended and appalled by the use of the derogatory term 'mongrels' in reference to the Irish people. This language is not only disrespectful but entirely inaccurate. The author of the article in question appears to have a misguided understanding of Irish history. Attempting to portray the Irish as 'mongrelised' – whether as a verb or adjective – is an unacceptable distortion of our heritage. This kind of narrative constitutes a form of historical revisionism that seeks to manipulate public perception and undermine national identity. I strongly urge you to retract this article and replace it with an accurate and respectful representation of Irish history. Our people deserve to have their past told truthfully and with dignity. – Yours, etc, NIAMH HEVERIN, Co Mayo. Forensics and fires Sir, – Your article on the tragic deaths in a Connemara house fire ('Former US death row inmate dies in Connemara House Fire ', June 4th), refers to 'a forensic examination being carried out'. Also included is 'the results of the postmortems, along with the findings of the technical examination, will determine the course of the Garda investigation'. This would appear to relate to a possible criminal investigation. But what if there was no criminality involved? Will the public ever be informed of the cause of the fire so that preventive measures can be taken to avoid any recurrence? Many house fires involving fatalities take place in our country each year, but helpful information gleaned from follow-up investigations rarely finds its way into the public domain. Yours, etc, EAMON O'FLYNN, Merrion Road, Dublin 4 Walkway economics Sir, – It has been calculated that the estimated economic impact on Bray and Greystones of the closure of the 7km cliff walk is an annual reduction in spending of ¤18.4 million. Does this mean our failure to open a 250km coastal walkway from Carlingford to Rosslare is causing a ¤657 million reduction in spending, That would be a total ¤2.6 billion spending reduction over four years. I suspect this idea of a new walkway will be like my new theory of inertia, it just won't gain momentum. – Yours, etc, DERMOT O'ROURKE, Lucan, Dublin. Tomb of Mary O'Connell Sir, I refer to the piece by Justine McCarthy on the tomb of Mary O'Connell on Abbey Island, Derrynane (Opinion, May 30th). As a member of the O'Connell family, we fully agree that the tomb needs restoration and are actively engaged in this task. Work was commissioned over a year ago before being halted in consultation with the OPW on the technical details on the best way to approach such restoration. Indeed, we are in the process of taking advice from various experts who are experienced in this type of project, including advice from the Glasnevin Trust. Funding is not the issue. We would wish this process to go much faster and I take responsibility for its tardiness. Unfortunately, it is turning out to be more complex than a bike shed! This is both a historic monument and a family resting place for my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other members of my family through the ages. Indeed, my wife and I hope to join them in the (hopefully) distant future. We are inordinately proud of the women in the family, including both Mary and The Liberator's grand mother, Mháire Ní Dhuibh O'Donoghue, and their own contributions to Irish history as well as my mother, Dr Una O'Connell, who was an early pioneer as a female consultant in the NHS. I have a great deal of respect for Justine's journalism and her many excellent articles. However, it would have been preferable not to use a family grave for an article about respect of women, however commendable such an objective. I was also surprised that the Liberator's active promotion of women's rights was not mentioned but that is for another (soon) day. – Yours, etc, DANIEL O'CONNELL, Great, great, great grandson of the Liberator, Co Kerry. Squirrel spotting Sir, – Noting recent correspondence about red squirrels, one place where they may be found is the churchyard of St Luke's in Formby, near Liverpool, which is also the burial place of Percy French. Visiting his grave, I have often sat quietly on a bench and watched them - far more appealing than their ubiquitous grey relatives. – Yours, etc , PAUL GRIFFIN, Liverpool.
Irish Times
04-06-2025
- Irish Times
Why Poland's dramatic election result is a setback for Europe
Poland is facing political deadlock after pro-Trump candidate Karol Nawrocki, backed by the country's right-wing opposition, won Sunday's presidential by less than two percentage points. He defeated liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who represented the party of Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk. Political observers say Mr Tusk's Sunday election loss was in part a sign of growing discontent with his government's progress in making good on election promises that propelled him to power 18 months ago. The election of Eurosceptic historian Nawrocki also has major implications for the EU. READ MORE On today's podcast Hugh Linehan discusses the outcome with Berlin correspondent Derek Scally.
