Presidential elections are held in Romania

Romania began electing a new president today. Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time and will close at 21:00.

There are just over 19 million registered voters in Romania, with nearly one million living abroad. Voting began on Friday in other countries. Nearly 19,000 polling stations have been set up for the election.

In the first round of the presidential election, 14 candidates were listed on the ballot. One candidate, former Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, withdrew from the race and called for support for Elena Lasconi, the leader of the right-wing opposition Save Romania Union (USR).

According to polls, the leading candidates are Romania's left-wing Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the head of the opposition far-right AUR party, George Simion, who is suspected of having ties to Russia.

This is the ninth presidential election in Romania since the 1989 revolution. In the last 35 years, the country has had four presidents: Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu, Traian Băsescu, and Klaus Iohannis. Iohannis served two terms and is ineligible to run in this year's election.

It is worth noting that this year many countries held presidential or parliamentary elections. According to the Constitution, the next presidential election in Ukraine was supposed to take place on March 31, 2024. However, elections are prohibited during martial law.

This year, the United States also elected a new president, with Republican Donald Trump winning. This will be his second term and a historic return to the White House. Trump's inauguration is scheduled for January 2025.

Additionally, the European Parliament elections took place this year, after which the leadership of key European institutions changed.

Recently, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia, but the voting was not smooth and was accompanied by numerous violations. The opposition refused to recognize the results of the vote.