Latest news with #EuronewsRomania
Euronews
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
How marine drones have become essential in the fight against mines
Hundreds of sea mines have been threatening traffic in the Black Sea since the early days of the war in Ukraine. The waters of NATO member states like Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are unsafe and must be permanently monitored by NATO. The risk of stray mines represents considerable economic losses for the countries bordering the western and eastern shores of the Black Sea and can lead to higher insurance policies, more complicated routes and damage to tourism. Demining is therefore a crucial activity for the security and the economies of NATO's and the EU's eastern flank. The use of mines is part of the Russian attempt to approach Odessa and the Ukrainian attempt to defend the city from any landing craft. So both sides make use of such mines for offensive and defensive reasons. The war in Ukraine marked a turning point in the militarisation of drones and unmanned vehicles in the skies, on land and in the seas. In the Black Sea, for example, which is a so-called semi-enclosed-sea, drones have played a lethal role by forcing Russian naval ships to leave Sevastopol and find shelter in the port of Novorossiysk, in the eastern Black Sea, far away from the range of the Ukrainian sea drones and naval missiles. Drones have also proved to be of great use to navies of countries not directly involved in the fighting. For example, the Romanian navy has for some time now started regular mine clearance operations with submarine drones imported from the UK. A TV crew from Euronews Romania boarded a minesweeper equipped with the submarine drone, Sea Fox, to cover the demining operations. The Sea Fox underwater drones on the minehunter "Ion Ghiculescu", have already been successfully tested in the deep. The unmanned remote-controlled submarine vehicle can destroy sea mines remotely without endangering crews. Denis Giubernea Commander of the Minehunter, explains how the Sea Fox drone works. "It's remote-controlled. It has a cable, a 1,500-meter fibre optic, and it's guided through the water. So, it's permanently tethered to the ship. After the object is identified as a mine this drone returns home and after that action, we use another neutralizing drone that we send in the vicinity of the object that we have already identified as a mine. And on contact this drone, which already has explosives on board, self-destructs," he said. 150 sea mines have been discovered floating adrift in the Black Sea since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, six of them in Romanian territorial waters. And they represent a constant danger. "Ukraine has carried out defensive mines and the Russian Federation has carried out offensive mines. We cannot know their exact number but there may be mines that may drift and therefore the risk is getting higher and higher," says Denis Giubernea. According to military experts, the role of drones in marine warfare is of great tactical relevance. The unmanned maritime vehicles have proved essential in the mines hunting. The Sea Fox type still has to be controlled using an optical tether, which requires the minehunter vessel to be relatively close to the theatre of operations. Sidharth Kaushal, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) told Euronews, "If a system is fully autonomous, the vessel controlling it can operate from further back, which allows for it to be safe against threats live, cruise missiles or, indeed, uncrewed surface vessels, which can be used to target mine countermeasures vessels." According to Kaushal, identifying the classification of a mine is a time-consuming task that involves a combination of different levels of detection and human analysis. Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence in demining has fewer ethical implications than other areas of military operations where final human judgement is required. "Mine hunting is an uncontroversial area to deploy fully automated systems, unlike situations which involve killing. The disposal of mines is a less politically controversial area" he added. Candidates from right-wing and nationalist parties did particularly well on Sunday in the first round of Poland's presidential election, echoing a trend seen across Europe in recent months, with nationalist politicians enjoying a wave of success. In February, Europe was shocked when the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the second-largest force in the Bundestag. On the same day as the Polish vote, the far-right Chega party performed well in Portugal, while nationalist candidate Geroge Simion narrowly lost out on the Romanian presidency. In Poland, the nationalist candidates Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun received a combined total of almost 21% of the vote. Overall, more than 50% of Polish voters cast their ballot for right-wing candidates. Mentzen was the presidential candidate for Konfederacja or Confederation, a nationalist party which describes itself as liberal-conservative, while Braun represented Konfederacja Korony Polskiej (Confederation of the Polish Crown), a party which has voiced antisemitic views. Their voters are now being fought over by the candidates who went through to the second round of the presidential election — Rafał Trzaskowski from the liberal Civic Platform and Karol Nawrocki, supported by the right-wing Law and Justice or PiS party. "Mentzen's voters are not a homogeneous group," Dr Olgierd Annusewicz, a political scientist from the University of Warsaw, told Euronews. In total, Mentzen received 14.8% of all ballots on Sunday. "There are certainly a great many people out there who strongly believe in certain isolationist thoughts, are averse to the European Union, or think in very traditional terms in general, on social issues for example, where Slawomir Mentzen has expressed himself," the political scientist explained. Annusewicz explained that he also gained support from free-market voters. "They believe that only the free market is able to give them some level of happiness or trust in the state," he said. Dr Annusewicz also noted that Mentzen got the support of young people. "Not necessarily because of the views he preaches, but because, firstly, he is anti-system, and young people very often do not like the system, they do not like the state and its institutions. But also simply because he seemed cool to them," Dr Annusewicz said. "Let's remember that Mentzen was the youngest of all the candidates running. He was able, in his own way, to find contact with this young generation." Braun, of the Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, gained 6.34% of the vote — and won fourth place in the presidential race, even though he was only seventh in the polls. "This is, of course, a little surprising, because it would seem that a candidate with very extreme views, who is very expressive in this way, but also highly controversial on the political scene, will not be attractive to too many voters," Dr Annusewicz told Euronews. Annusewicz mentioned that some of Braun's supporters would have grown disillusioned with the classical political parties and turned away from the right-wing Law and Justice party. Professor Rafał Chwedoruk from the University of Warsaw said Braun was supported by many middle-aged men in some of the country's most conservative areas. His voters were worried about Poland being dragged into Russia's war in Ukraine and about migration, Chwedoruk noted. Both Mentzen and Braun want to make the most of their raised profile and have issued demands to the presidential candidates who made it through to the second round. Mentzen listed eight conditions that a candidate must fulfil to gain his support. They include not raising existing taxes, not allowing Polish soldiers to be sent to Ukraine, and not signing a law to ratify Ukraine's accession to NATO. Mentzen offered Trzaskowski and Nawrocki a conversation on his YouTube channel. "Mentzen is growing (in stature), putting himself in the spotlight and showing that he is the boss today. This is, from the point of view of Slawomir Mentzen's political interest, an excellent move," Dr Annusewicz said. Meanwhile, Braun, who is an MEP, demanded that the future president "reject the so-called European Union migration pact and ... stop immigration — both legal and illegal". Representatives of the PiS party and the Civic Platform have said their party was the ideal partner for Mentzen and his voters. "I have always said: there are no enemies on the right. I am in favour of a coalition with the Confederation," PiS MP Janusz Kowalski said. "I have no doubt whatsoever that if Slawomir Mentzen's voters, and I understand that he has defined what is important to them, listen to what Rafal Trzaskowski says, it will suddenly become apparent that many of these issues are close to Rafal Trzaskowski," argued Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, a Civic Platform lawmaker.
Euronews
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Romanians vote in cliffhanger election as tensions continue to rise
Romanians are out to elect their president on Sunday in a cliffhanger election that has transfixed and polarised the country, with both candidates running neck and neck in the latest polls. Most Romanians see today's choice as probably the most important vote in Romania's post-communist history. The first hours of voting showed significant turnout both in the country and in the diaspora, a sign of the huge stakes for the future direction of NATO's Eastern flank, Euronews Romania reports. The vote in the diaspora has doubled compared to the first round, while in Romania, the urban voters and the youth have already surpassed their first-round participation. As vote participation is now the decisive election factor, at 12 pm CEST, the historic 1 million votes in the diaspora, including the Republic of Moldova, had been cast. Centrist independent candidate Nicușor Dan voted with his wife in his tranquil Transylvanian hometown of Fagaras. He represents the current pro-EU, pro-NATO course, saying he voted for 'a pro-European direction and for good cooperation with our European partners, and not for Romania's isolation.' Hard-right nationalist candidate George Simion went to vote outside Bucharest with his now-choice for future prime minister, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, the protagonist of the unprecedented annulled elections and the ensuing political crisis in December. In a talk show on Friday, Simion and Georgescu concluded the campaign side by side to outline their potential doctrines ahead. With Georgescu calling Simion 'George' and 'my protégé', and Simion addressing him as 'Mister Georgescu, from whom I have learned a lot,' the political couple said they will prioritise good relations with the United States. 'We do everything with them, but we also have China, Russia, and Brazil," Georgescu said. "It is unimaginable not to have substantive, non-collegial relationships of minimal respect. We have catching up to do in terms of absorption of EU funds. So far, we have not attracted EU money because of incompetence at the state level.' Simion proclaimed that 'we will not withdraw from any alliance and we will cooperate, as Mister Georgescu says, this is our foreign policy, with all the states of the world.' Repeating a constant reassurance of his campaign, given EU-wide concerns, Simion proclaimed, " We will not withdraw from any alliance.' After voting on Sunday morning outside Bucharest surrounded by multiple bodyguards and supporters, Simion said he voted against 'against the inequities and humiliations to which our sisters and brothers have been subjected here, in the current borders, and everywhere." "I voted against abuses and against poverty, I voted against those who disregard us all. But I also voted for our future," Simion added. Simion and Georgescu were asked by police to leave the polling station when they were about to address the media next to the voting booths, as the law forbids campaigning inside. The social media videos show Simion saying, 'Thank you, mister policeman does not want us to take the media,' before moving outside for the media statements, further adding to the cliffhanger atmosphere in Romania. Georgescu, dubbed the "TikTok Messiah," came out on top in the first round of Romania's presidential election in December 2024, which the country's constitutional court annulled following the declassification of intelligence reports showing Russian involvement in influencing voters through social media to support the then-relatively unknown candidate. Georgescu also continues to face criminal proceedings, including committing anticonstitutional acts and misreporting his campaign finances. The charges also revolve around his support for sympathisers of the Iron Guard, a pre-World War II fascist and antisemitic movement and political party, which is illegal under Romanian law. After voting, former Romanian president and staunch NATO ally Traian Basescu spoke in no uncertain terms. "This is a crucial vote, we are at a crossroads, with clear choices to the West or to the East," Basescu said. "If the choice is pro-Moscow, they will vote for one candidate, and if the choice is pro-Euro-Atlantic, they will vote for another candidate. That's all. It's a decisive day." The estimated 6-million-strong Romanian diaspora, whose votes can decide the election, has been casting their ballots since Friday and has already exceeded the turnout of the first round, in a sign of massive mobilisation for the country's choice and future. On Saturday, Euronews talked to Romanian voters in Belgium, where no less than 29 polling stations have been set up across the country. 'A pro-European future, the possibility of accessing European funds, collaboration with member states, free movement within the European area, and more recently, Schengen, free movement,' said one voter when asked about the choice. In contrast, another one said, 'We voted for something a candidate inspired us to do, something we'd never seen before. We didn't vote for the lesser evil, we voted for what's best for Romania." As the vote can go either way, the deep divisions in Romanian society and their consequences for the country's immediate political and economic evolution will be a massive challenge for whoever wins the election tonight. Meanwhile, Simion has already expressed concerns of alleged voter fraud, stating that in case of his loss on Sunday, his supporters are prepared to protest, with some online posts calling for a Ukraine-style "Maidan" in Bucharest — threats that have added further fuel to the heightened tensions in the country. Follow Euronews Romania's live coverage of the presidential election repeat's runoff here.
Euronews
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Simion seeks diaspora support in Romanian presidential race last leg
Hard-right Romanian presidential candidate George Simion is spending his last campaign days not in Romania, but on a foreign tour. Simion is seeking the decisive votes of the Romanian diaspora and spreading his message, garnering support and fostering future European alliances if he emerges victorious on Sunday. As the latest Romanian opinion polls show a virtual neck and neck standoff between Simion and independent candidate Nicusor Dan, Romania is transfixed by the last hours of the presidential race, seen as existential for the country's future course by most Romanians. But Simion has chosen the foreign tour of European capitals and the estimated six million Romanians living abroad rather than battling it out in debates in Romania, a bold move signalling he is confident he secured the votes to win the presidency in Romania. Until now, Simion and Dan have confronted each other in just one national television presidential debate, which was hosted by Euronews Romania last Thursday. Euronews and Euronews Romania caught up with him at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday where he met various MEPs, but also the Romanian diaspora in Belgium. Both campaigns consider the votes of Romanians abroad decisive for Sunday's second round. Simion has been on a campaign tour of London, Rome, Brussels and Paris (as planned for Friday), while his contender Dan is campaigning in Romania. 'The first objective that we have is to reach towards the Romanian audience, the Romanians that are voting here, as the voting starts tomorrow morning for our diaspora, this is why tonight I am also going to Paris,' Simion told Euronews and Euronews Romania. He quickly added the main thrust of his foreign policy narrative, that 'we are not isolated, we are not against EU and NATO, as many lied." "We are part of the European Conservatives and Reformists, the party of Giorgia Meloni, of Mateusz Morawiecki, and I will be an example of pro-European, pro-NATO president fighting for the interests of the Romanian nation,' Simion said. The day after meeting Italian Premier Meloni in Rome, whom Simion has admired for a long time, and securing a joint video on his social media in the Italian capital on Wednesday, Simion announced that Meloni's government 'is the model for us'. 'The way they ended the confusion in Italy (was) with rapid changes of government. They had Conte, Renzi and others, technocratic governments who didn't produce prosperity for their citizens. And now for two years... Italy is again, how they say it in Italian, 'protagonista'," Simion explained. "They are delivering for their citizens, they are assuring stability and they had a good presidency in G7. So yes, Giorgia Meloni, Salvini and Tajani's government is the model for us,' Simion said. He also reiterated his admiration for former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and President Andrzej Duda. Simion travelled to Warsaw on Tuesday to join his conservative counterpart Karol Nawrocki in his campaign rallies and was received by President Duda himself. Both Romania and Poland will hold presidential elections on Sunday, and Simion has already declared he is looking forward to a strong alliance with Poland if both he and Nawrocki become presidents. 'In Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki did wonders. He was six years in government. He managed to bring half a million Polish citizens back home in Poland with President Duda. So both President Duda and Prime Minister Morawiecki did what they had to do for the Polish nation,' Simion said. While his opponents warn that his victory would scare investors off and throw Romania into an economic crisis, Simion is using his foreign tour to invite economic cooperation. 'We have 6 million Romanians, half of our active population abroad, so we will concentrate our efforts on the economy, on attracting foreign investors, on being open to develop our country, which is a rich country," he explained. "We have offshore natural gas in the Black Sea, we have onshore, we have oil, we basically have all the elements in the Mendeleev table, so we want to benefit from these natural resources, from our minerals, to stop our population from being poor,' he said. His view on how the European Union economies should function, Simion opts for what he calls 'a model of economic cooperation and a model of peace', which could be endangered by 'a separation into geopolitical blocks, EU and US.' 'This is why, at European level, we are the most pro-transatlantic party. We advocate for maintaining the unity of the free world with two important pillars, EU and US, then the commonwealth and the other countries,' Simion proclaimed. But one of the main concerns across Europe is that Romania, a staunch NATO ally and the alliance's Eastern flank country, could change its pro-Western course under a Simion presidency, based on his past statements. A strong Trump supporter, the hard-right presidential candidate has been advocating over the last weeks and months that he is unfairly accused of being pro-Russian. He told Euronews and Euronews Romania that Russia 'is the biggest risk for Romania' and outlined his foreign policy doctrine in no unclear terms. 'Russia took territories and killed our people under the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. So yes, it is a risk, but even a greater risk is to have this split in the free world," Simion pointed out. "We worked a lot to be a part of the EU and NATO, and we don't want separation, divisions inside our allies. We have three pillars at the basis of our security strategy: our strategic partnership with the US, a member of NATO, and a member of the EU." "We want the war in Ukraine stopped. We need the truce. We need a ceasefire and peace negotiations. Hopefully, and we pray for this, that President Trump will obtain peace. I'm sure President Trump wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, and he is the leader of the free world," Simion said. According to Euronews' political sources in Budapest, Simion's campaign sent emissaries over time to Budapest for talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government. When asked if he has spoken recently with the Hungarian prime minister, Simion said he 'has not spoken with Viktor Orban,' but that he 'admires his policies'. 'Many of our interests can unite us. We have also red lines, but we must think about cooperating in the future for a Christian continent that respects the tradition and identity,' concluded the hard-right presidential candidate.
Euronews
14-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Defence is no longer free, Romania's interim president tells Euronews
As Romania gears up for the second round of its presidential election rerun, the country's Interim President Ilie Bolojan has told Euronews Romania that there is no escaping the need for extra spending to keep the country safe. "We have a war on our border, and any rational Romanian has come to understand that defence is no longer a free service," Bolojan said. "The fact that we are a safe country is not a matter that comes naturally. Defence also means some costs." He pointed out that while the US spends over 3% of its GDP on its defence spending, part of which goes to the defence of Europe under the NATO umbrella in particular, some other European countries have outpaced Romania to spend 2% or more of their GDP on defence. In his view, Romania's position next door to Ukraine is simply too dangerous for its spending not to keep up. "As we are the closest (in eastern Europe) to the conflict zone, along with Poland and the Baltic countries, we certainly feel this threat quite strongly," he told Euronews Romania. "And therefore Romania, like other countries, will have to increase its defence budget." Bolojan also pointed out a wider European problem: a pattern of intractable political division that obstructs decision-making at a time when addressing foreign threats is paramount. "These states are using what little energy they have left to solve their internal problems, not to make policies that will bring them to their full potential," he said, recalling that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine immediately represented a threat to his own country. "It was in our country's interest that the Ukrainian front did not fall, because any rapprochement with Russia, any advance westwards, along the Black Sea coast, for example, towards the Republic of Moldova, was an aggravating factor for Romania and for the security of Europe," he said. "Therefore, I supported (contributing to the Ukrainian defence against Russia's war) because, first and foremost, it is in the interests of our country and of Europe, but also out of solidarity with Ukraine, because they are not fighting for themselves alone." Bolojan also told Euronews Romania that the election's political implications are inseparable from the country's difficult fiscal position. "We have been spending more than we could afford for many years," he explained, "and this budget deficit is financed through borrowing. And the very important stake for us is to continue to finance the deficit." "The second important issue is to maintain Romania's rating at the current level, because that means confidence in our country, for investors, for creditors. And all these things also depend on a certain political stability." "The stakes of these elections (are) more important than other elections, when the country was, let's say, in a stable situation, when we had no external turbulence." Bolojan was unambiguous about which candidate he thinks can handle this foreboding situation. "My vote would certainly go to Mr Nicușor Dan for president," he said. "I will do this because I believe that he is the only candidate who can offer firm guarantees regarding the perception of Romania, and that he has the capacity, having also had the great experience of the General City Hall of Bucharest — a rather complex structure — to conduct a civilised dialogue with all political forces, regardless of their views, in such a way that a critical mass can be found to take Romania forward."
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Our position is very clear. It's a Russian war against Ukraine,' says Simion
George Simion is a self-described Euro-realist with differing views on Ukraine. Yet he's not fallen to any kind of anti-Ukrainian sentiment, he says. It's patriotism and protecting the interests of the Romanian minority living there, plain and simple. And to prove that point, in his mind there is no doubt over who's to blame for the war in Ukraine, or who can be the peacemaker. "Our position towards the Russian war is very clear. It's a Russian war against Ukraine, against all international treaties, and our hopes and prayers go towards a peaceful solution of the Trump administration in this region because escalating the conflict is not the answer," Simion explained in a joint interview with Euronews and Euronews Romania. "Our problems with Ukraine is not about hatred, about opposing something. It's about Ukrainians who must respect international treaties and the rights of national minorities," Simion said. "We have half a million Romanian speakers in Ukraine, and they don't have the right to school and to church." Simion still has a standing ban on entry to Ukraine, as well as neighbouring Moldova, however. Yet, he is confident the bans will get lifted once he enters office. "Probably after I win on 19 May, these false interdictions will disappear because it is in Chisinau and Kyiv's interest to work with us. I want to work with them on several topics and I want to have good neighbourly relations," he said. When asked whether Romania will continue to support Ukraine, defending itself from Russia's all-out war, now in its fourth year, or if Bucharest will put that on hold, Simion was clear. "This is not an obligation so far as I know, and I will not help Ukraine until Ukraine manages to respect the right of the Romanians living in the sovereign territory of Ukraine," he said. Does that mean Romania would withdraw its support? Simion said yes. "I said it numerous times. The solution is a ceasefire and peace negotiation, de-escalating the conflict and we must follow the interests of the Romanian nation, not of other nations that are not part of the European Union and of NATO. And NATO is a defensive alliance," he pointed out. Yet Romania's future is closely tied to that of the EU in Simion's views, while there's no chance his country would ever leave NATO under his leadership, he emphasised. "For us, being a member of NATO is vital. We sacrificed a lot for being admitted to NATO. We invested a lot, and our defence spending is quite large." "So we want to be, along with Poland and the Baltic states, the eastern flank of NATO, and we want to invest more in our defence spending. We want a NATO led by the United States," he added. Simion has emerged as the frontrunner for Romania's next president, securing 40.5% of the votes in the repeat's first round held last Sunday. Just two days after his victory, in an interview before the Euronews Romania debate, Simion was optimistic about his chances — and very vocal about his policies. He's neither a Eurosceptic nor a pro-Russian politician, and he's tired of the relentless name-calling, especially from abroad, he pointed out. "I am a Euro-realist," Simion told Euronews. "We want a Europe of nations, and I am the person who fought the most before entering politics against Russian propaganda." His opponent in the second round, Nicușor Dan, who received 21% of the vote on Sunday, is a staunch pro-Ukraine ally. Both candidates participated in a debate, organised by Euronews Romania Thursday night, in which Ukraine was one of the key topics of discussion.
