• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home World News Europe

Why the EU and Nato fear Romania’s hard-right presidential frontrunner

May 5, 2025
in Europe
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
0
Supporters of nationalist candidate George Simion watch his video message
5
SHARES
10
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


This article is an on-site version of our Europe Express newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday and fortnightly on Saturday morning. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters

Good morning. Hard-right nationalist George Simion triumphed in yesterday’s first round of Romania’s presidential election, winning around 40 per cent of the vote in a concerning result for the country’s EU and Nato allies.

Below, our man in Bucharest assesses Simion’s chances to win the May 18 run-off. And the EU’s chief trade negotiator tells us he needs more staff and less red tape to handle the surge of interest in negotiating new deals.

Alarm bells

Hard-right leader George Simion appeared to have strolled to a comfortable victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential elections according to provisional results released overnight. But he will need to win a run-off two weeks from now to actually become president — which is not a foregone conclusion, writes Marton Dunai.

Context: Romania repeated its presidential vote after nixing the previous election in December. Romanian authorities suspected Russia had meddled on behalf of obscure soil engineer Călin Georgescu, who was a conspicuous admirer of President Vladimir Putin. The US was not pleased about the do-over, with vice-president JD Vance calling Romanian evidence supporting the annulment “flimsy”.

Simion, the youthful leader of the hard-right AUR party, has risen from hell-raising football hooligan to full-blown Donald Trump cheerleader now banned from entering neighbouring Ukraine and Moldova.

Simion has unnerved EU capitals who see him as a subverter of Romania’s standing as a reliable Euro-Atlantic ally, a cornerstone of Nato’s eastern flank in the Black Sea region, and a key route for trade with Ukraine.

Simion will face off against Nicușor Dan after the liberal mayor of Bucharest won 20.9 per cent of the vote to sneak into second place above centrist candidate Crin Antonescu.

Dan’s chance of victory will depend on his ability to convert Antonescu’s votes and form a mainstream alliance.

“I’m not too worried about such an alliance,” Simion told the Financial Times yesterday. “This is only a smoke bomb, a diversion [from the fact] that I’m not the extremist, the hooligan, the isolationist they are portraying me to be.”

Indeed, Simion could also pick up voters from former premier Victor Ponta, a leftwing politician turned Trump fan, who won 13.3 per cent yesterday.

Romania’s credit rating has recently been downgraded, it runs the EU’s highest budget deficit and has failed to meet conditions to release certain development funds.

Simion said he was not a threat to the country’s direction, despite the company he keeps: “I am the guarantee the free world has that [Romania] will not change the course . . . I will do whatever I can to empower Nato.”

Chart du jour: Exposed

Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.

Many of the world’s most climate-vulnerable cities are in Europe, as wildfire and flood risks rise due to extreme weather.

Staffing up, slimming down

The EU’s trade tsar wants more troops and simpler deal frameworks as he races to sign as many pacts with third countries seeking new friends in the face of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Context: The EU is negotiating trade deals with a raft of countries including India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. That wave of activity, accelerated by Trump’s tariffs, follows the EU inking a long-mooted deal with the Mercosur bloc and an updated pact with Mexico.

Brussels is also reviving a potential strategic partnership with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a group of 12 Indo-Pacific countries, the FT reported yesterday.

As such, Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, wants the budget for a larger army of trade negotiators and a simpler bureaucratic process to approve new deals.

“It’s true that to accelerate the deals we are looking for . . . even more people in DG Trade, but also we are looking at what can we do to streamline the procedures for approval of these agreements between the Council and European parliament,” Šefčovič said in an interview that also revealed Brussels’s offer to the US for a peace deal on tariffs.

DG Trade is the commission department in charge of trade policy.

“On these things we have now much more support, because everyone recognises that it’s a paradigm shift,” he said.

Šefčovič said much of the urgency was coming directly from his boss, commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

“[Von der Leyen] is in permanent touch not only with our member states, but with all the negotiating partners, who are calling her: ‘Tell Maroš to negotiate faster!’,” Šefčovič said, laughing.

“And of course, our DG Trade is a little bit desperate because they thought that I was joking when I was telling them that we would like to see one deal per month,” he added. “Until they heard it from the president.”

What to watch today

  1. European parliament plenary session begins in Strasbourg.

  2. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen meets French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

  3. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visits Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

Now read these

  • Conclave intrigue: Could a pact with China scupper the chances of Pope Francis’s longtime right-hand man taking control of the Vatican?

  • Euro vs dollar: Trump has created a chance for the euro to rival the dollar, writes Martin Sandbu. Now EU leaders must act on the opportunity.

  • 3-5-8: The European Central Bank is gently encouraging its employees to leave their jobs and find new roles quicker.

Recommended newsletters for you

Free Lunch — Your guide to the global economic policy debate. Sign up here

The State of Britain — Peter Foster’s guide to the UK’s economy, trade and investment in a changing world. Sign up here

Are you enjoying Europe Express? Sign up here to have it delivered straight to your inbox every workday at 7am CET and on Saturdays at noon CET. Do tell us what you think, we love to hear from you: europe.express@ft.com. Keep up with the latest European stories @FT Europe



Source link

Previous Post

Pacers stun Cavs, Warriors shoot down Rockets to advance in NBA playoffs

Next Post

China Joy Air’s joyless pilots forced into gig economy amid high debt, labour disputes

Related Posts

Five skiers found dead near Zermatt – DW – 05/25/2025

Five skiers found dead near Zermatt – DW – 05/25/2025

May 25, 2025
5
Second suspected sabotage in France as power cut hits Nice

Second suspected sabotage in France as power cut hits Nice

May 25, 2025
4
Next Post
China Joy Air’s joyless pilots forced into gig economy amid high debt, labour disputes

China Joy Air’s joyless pilots forced into gig economy amid high debt, labour disputes

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

May 25, 2025
Databricks

Tom Brady gets a ride from Jimmie Johnson at Indy 500 | INDYCAR on FOX

May 25, 2025
Ford F-150 Lightning driving off-road.

Is Ford Stock a Buy Now? todayheadline

May 25, 2025

NXP Semiconductors' SWOT analysis: stock resilience amid market shifts todayheadline

May 25, 2025

Recent News

Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

May 25, 2025
3
Databricks

Tom Brady gets a ride from Jimmie Johnson at Indy 500 | INDYCAR on FOX

May 25, 2025
5
Ford F-150 Lightning driving off-road.

Is Ford Stock a Buy Now? todayheadline

May 25, 2025
5

NXP Semiconductors' SWOT analysis: stock resilience amid market shifts todayheadline

May 25, 2025
5

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Community honours 4 Walkerton, Ont., teens and teacher killed in multi-vehicle crash

Community honours 4 Walkerton, Ont., teens and teacher killed in multi-vehicle crash

May 25, 2025
Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

Houthi strikes on Israeli airport expose economic fallout

May 25, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co