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The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Romanians vote in election that could propel ultranationalist Trump ally to power
Romanians are voting in a presidential election rerun that could propel to power an ultranationalist who opposes military aid to Ukraine, has fiercely criticised the EU's leadership and describes himself as a 'natural ally' of Donald Trump. George Simion, 38, is comfortably ahead in the opinion polls before the first-round vote in the EU and Nato member state, nearly six months after the original ballot was cancelled amid evidence of an alleged 'massive' Russian influence campaign. The election is being closely watched: a far-right victory could lead to Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, veering from its pro-western path and becoming another disruptive force within the bloc and the transatlantic defence alliance. After the election was cancelled, hard-right politicians worldwide, including senior Trump administration figures, accused Bucharest of trampling on free speech and ignoring 'the voice of the people'. The US vice-president, JD Vance, accused Romania's authorities of 'cancelling elections because you don't like the result'. The original vote last November was won by Călin Georgescu, a far-right, anti-EU, Moscow-friendly independent who declared zero campaign spending but surged from less than 5% days before the vote to finish first on 23%. The constitutional court annulled the vote after declassified intelligence documents revealed an alleged Russian influence operation, including multiple cyber-attacks on the electoral IT system and large-scale social media meddling in Georgescu's favour. In February, Georgescu, who denies any wrongdoing, was placed under investigation on counts including misreporting campaign finances, misuse of digital technology and promoting fascist groups, and in March he was barred from standing in the rerun. Simion hopes to benefit from public anger at the cancellation and Georgescu's disbarment. 'It is clear a strong anti-western trend has been built up and Romania's direction is at unprecedented risk,' said Cristian Pîrvulescu, a political scientist. As in the original campaign, social media – especially TikTok – is playing a major part. Simion, whose posts combine nationalist rhetoric with an emotionally charged delivery and direct-to-camera speeches, has 1.3 million followers on the app. 'The time for rebirth has come,' he said in a video posted on Tuesday. 'Our nation will find its way again … We have within us the power to be reborn and to move forward, more united and stronger.' Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion The far-right candidate, whose party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), began as an anti-vaxx movement during the pandemic, aims to bring Georgescu into government if he wins, though the far right does not have a parliamentary majority. Describing himself as 'more moderate' than Georgescu, Simion has repeatedly insisted on Romania's 'sovereignty'. He has called for territories that were part of Romania but were ceded to the USSR in the second world war and are now part of Moldova and Ukraine to be returned to Romania. Simion is banned from entering both Moldova and Ukraine. In contrast to Georgescu, however, Simion has frequently denounced Russia, while lashing out at Brussels and praising Trump's Republicans in the US. He has said he aims to set up an alliance of countries within the EU 'in the spirit of Maga'. On about 30% in the polls, Simion is about 10 points clear of his two centrist rivals, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicușor Dan, and Crin Antonescu, backed by the ruling Social Democratic party (PSD) and centre-right National Liberal party (PNL). Despite his convincing polling lead, it appears unlikely Simion will secure the 50% of the vote needed to win outright on Sunday. Instead, he is seen advancing to a second-round runoff, due on 18 May, against either Antonescu or Dan. Romania's president has a semi-executive role with considerable powers over foreign policy, national security, defence spending and judicial appointments. They also represent the country on the international stage and can veto important EU votes. If he is elected, Simion has said he will make public the records of meetings that led to the original election being cancelled, and also reveal 'how much we have contributed to the war effort in Ukraine, to the detriment of Romanian children and our elderly'. Having placed fourth in the November ballot, he refused to participate in TV election debates this week, saying the annulment was a 'coup d'état', Georgescu should have been at the table, and he was staying away 'out of respect for the will of the people'. Polling stations opened at 7am local time on Sunday and close at 9pm, with the first exit polls expected soon after. In the event of a close result, the final outcome could take many hours to be confirmed, as between 5% and 7% of votes are cast abroad.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- The Guardian
In Madrid, electricty outages can't hold a candle to people power
Four long hours after the power went out across Spain, bringing trains to a halt in Madrid's metro stations and sending people scurrying for light and taxis, the denizens of the Spanish capital were swinging between pragmatism and polite, almost jocular, panic. Behind the counter of his neighbourhood bazaar in a quiet corner of the city, a shop owner reeled off a list of the afternoon's most popular purchases: radios, batteries, torches and candles. As he finished, yet another optimistic customer entered the shop. 'I don't suppose you've got any radios left?' The shop owner shook his head. No radios. Outside, on the boulevard that runs between two local schools, families were trotting home and trying to plan the next few hours. 'We're worried,' said Reyes Paterna, who was running a quick mental inventory as she took her young daughter home, where her one-year-old baby was waiting. 'Nothing's working. We've got stuff for the baby but nothing else,' she said. 'We've got a camping stove at home but we're not sure if there's any gas left in the cylinder.' Paterna was also anxious about her mother, who lives on her own in Murcia, 200 miles away. 'She could be stuck in the lift for all we know!' For Paterna and for everyone else in Madrid, the priorities were basic provisions and hoping that the patchy mobile phone coverage was restored as soon as possible, so that loved ones could be checked on and minds put at ease after hours of uncertainty. As metro workers lounged outside a silent station – no trains meant no work – people chatted and joked about how things would be better if they were in their pueblos in the countryside, where power cuts are more common and most people cook with gas. 'We're all in shock to be honest,' said one woman, as she guided her children home from school. Where were they headed? 'To my mum's. She's got gas, so at least there'll be some hot food for the kids.' Such measured calm was not universal, however. As offices across the capital emptied and taxi drivers bellowed 'cash only!' through their windows, at least one noble individual jumped the queue to get to a cab before a waiting pregnant woman. With the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, holding an emergency meeting of the national security council, and the Madrid regional government calling for the declaration of a national emergency, people decided on their own courses of action. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Food and other goods were high on everyone's list of priorities. Though one local supermarket was shuttered – either for want of working systems, or a lack of Euro-carrying customers in an increasingly cashless society – others were doing a good trade. Just as in the Covid pandemic, some people hadn't been able to resist the urge to stock up on toilet roll. Manuel Pastor, 72, had not bought toilet roll, but was pulling a shopping trolley homewards, nonetheless. 'I've bought some tins and stuff that will last a while, just in case,' he said. 'All we can do now is wait. Hopefully it'll only last a day or two, otherwise people will start to panic.' He sighed, pondering the possibility of some kind of cyber-attack and hoping that people would resist the urge to panic. If that happened, he said, 'everyone will be fighting over things, even before there are shortages. Remember when the pandemic started? What bloody idiots.' For most people, however, panic would have to wait. There was dinner to be made, relatives to be checked on, and children to be collected and hugged.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Friedrich Merz picks pro-Kyiv foreign minister and promises German support for Ukraine
Germany's chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, has promised to put staunch support of Ukraine at the heart of his government after announcing that a pro-Kyiv foreign policy expert and former soldier will be the new foreign minister. Speaking days before he is due to take power, Merz said on Monday it was 'no time for euphoria' as his conservative CDU met to approve an agreement to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats. Promising to tackle Russian aggression and the rise of the far right, he told party colleagues: 'The pillars we have relied on over the past years and decades are crumbling around us. Trust in our democracy is damaged like never before in our country's postwar history.' Merz, a former banker, said that Johann Wadephul, a conservative MP who has long advised Merz on foreign policy, would become the new foreign minister. Wadephul has been a supporter of military backing for Ukraine and recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper the war in Ukraine 'is not about a few square kilometres in Ukraine but rather the fundamental question of whether we will allow a classic war of conquest in Europe'. Merz said that despite domestic misgivings about Germany's role in Ukraine, with some calling for a halt to weapons deliveries, there were 'no ifs or buts' about its continued support. Vladimir Putin's invasion, he said, was nothing less than a battle 'against the entire political order of the European continent'. Germany, he stressed, would remain 'on the side of this attacked country and therefore on the side of all people in Europe who are committed to democracy and the rule of law…to freedom and an open society.' His statement came hours after Boris Pistorius, a social democrat who is widely expected to continue in the role as defence minister, said Donald Trump's peace deal proposals were 'akin to a capitulation'. Pistorius and Wadephul are expected to work closely together in a newly formed national security council to represent Germany on the European and international stage. In a nod to Trump but without naming him, Merz said on Monday: 'We have come to the realisation that we can no longer be certain of the transatlantic relationship in the spirit of freedom and the rules-based order.' Merz and his government are due to be sworn into parliament on 6 May, ending six months of political gridlock. His conservative CDU/CSU alliance agreed a deal to coalesce with the Social Democrats (SPD) after winning a federal election on 23 February, in which the far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) came second. The results of a poll of the SPD's 365,000 members approving the deal is expected on Wednesday. Only once they have given the green light will the SPD announce its cabinet ministers, said the party's co-leader Lars Klingbeil. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Over recent months, amid a sense of stasis and growing dissatisfaction across the country, the AfD has crept up in the polls and is now for the first time ahead of the conservatives. Merz has pledged to reduce the AfD, which had managed to take advantage of people's fear and insecurity he said, to the 'marginal phenomenon' it once was. He would do so, he said, by tackling 'irregular' immigration that had 'got out of hand' over the past decade, an allusion to his predecessor Angela Merkel's so-called open-door policy which saw about 1 million refugees come to Germany. Among his surprise appointments is that of Karsten Wildberger, the chief executive of Ceconomy, the parent company of the German electronic retailers Saturn and Mediamarkt, who will head up a new ministry for digitalisation and modernisation of the state. He will, in part, be responsible for deciding how a special multibillion euro fund – controversially passed by the outgoing government to boost Germany's ailing infrastructure and its shrinking economy, as well as strengthening its defence forces – is to be spent.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Conclave to elect new pope to start on 7 May, Vatican says
Roman Catholic cardinals will meet in a secret conclave to elect the new leader of the global church from 7 May, the Vatican said on Monday. The date was decided during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, a source said, speaking at the end of the gathering. An official announcement followed. About 135 cardinals, all under the age of 80 and from across the world, are eligible to take part in the conclave and decide who should be the next leader of the 1.4-billion-member church. The 16th-century Sistine Chapel, where conclaves are held, was closed to tourists on Monday to allow for preparations for the vote. The two most recent conclaves, in 2005 and 2013, lasted two days. But the Swedish cardinal Anders Arborelius said on Monday he expected this conclave might take longer, as many of the cardinals appointed by Francis had never met one another before. Francis had made a priority of appointing cardinals from places that had never had them, such as Myanmar, Haiti, and Rwanda. 'We don't know each other,' Arborelius said. The earliest the conclave could have begun was 6 May. Starting it a day later means the cardinals will have slightly more time for general discussions ahead of the momentous ballot. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Francis, the pope since 2013, died aged 88 on 21 April. His funeral on Saturday and a procession through Rome to his burial place at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore attracted crowds estimated at more than 400,000 people. The German cardinal Walter Kasper told La Repubblica newspaper that the outpouring of mourners indicated that Catholics wanted the next pope to continue with Francis's reforming style of papacy. Francis, the first pope from Latin America, largely tried to open up the often staid church to new conversations. He allowed debate on issues such as ordaining women as clergy and outreach to LGBTQ Catholics. 'The People of God voted with their feet,' said Kasper, who is 92 and will not take part in the conclave. 'I am convinced that we must go ahead in the footsteps of Francis.' However, a bloc of conservative cardinals are expected to push back against this and seek a pope who reasserts traditions and restricts Francis's vision of a more inclusive church.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Barriers at the basilica: the logistical challenges of Pope Francis's funeral
Despite Pope Francis's desire for a simple and comparatively low-key send-off, those tasked with organising and delivering the funeral of the 266th Bishop of Rome still face a vast array of logistical, technological and security challenges. With as many as 170 foreign delegations – including those of the US president, Donald Trump, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prince William – expected to descend on the Vatican for Saturday's funeral, along with crowds of up to 200,000 people, those overseeing the event are in for a hyper-vigilant few days. The security operation will be further complicated by the fact that the Liberation Day public holiday, which marks Italy's freeing from fascism and Nazi occupation at the end of the second world war, falls on Friday, bringing with it a host of separate events and demonstrations. Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, said the authorities were working on the basis that between 150 and 170 foreign delegations would attend the outdoor funeral in St Peter's Square, along with tens of thousands of the faithful. Barriers have already been installed inside and outside the basilica to control the crowds, security checks have been increased and staff have been distributing bottles of water due to the warm weather. According to Corriere della Serra, state-of-the-art defence and security mechanisms are being deployed across Rome and in the skies above the capital, including anti-drone weaponry, a no-fly zone patrolled by fighter jets, and sophisticated jamming technologies. Anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage units are also already on the ground. The basilica and the surrounding area are being patrolled by more than 2,000 police officers between now and the end of the conclave that is expected to take place early next month to choose Francis's successor. They will be supported by 400 traffic police officers who will help manage the movement of the diplomatic convoys. Saturday's funeral will conclude with the late pontiff's coffin being taken, in procession, from St Peter's basilica to the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome's Esquilino neighbourhood, where Francis will be buried. But the security operation will not end with that final journey. Once Francis has been laid to rest, attention will swiftly turn to the conclave. Should an Italian cardinal be chosen as the 277th leader of the Roman Catholic church, police are bracing for even greater numbers of the faithful to head for the Vatican. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion About 50,000 people attended the funeral of Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict, which was also held in St Peter's Square, in January 2023. The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey in September 2022 was attended by about 500 foreign dignitaries, including the then US president, Joe Biden. More than 10,000 police officers were on patrol for the event, which was described as the UK police's largest-ever single deployment, as well as the biggest international event for foreign dignitaries coordinated by the Foreign Office. More than 3,000 other officers from almost every force in the country were drafted in to help police in London. Armed police, motorbike escort riders, officers carrying out patrols on horseback, dog teams and the marine unit were among the specialist teams deployed. Rooftop snipers were also in place while the late queen's cortege was moving, accompanied by a helicopter escort anywhere outside the capital.
