Washington is closely monitoring Romania’s presidential election and warns the country’s authorities against possible abandonment of a pro-Western course, the US State Department said in a statement.
Romania held presidential elections on 24 November, with independent candidate Calin Georgescu leading with 22.94% of the vote after the first round, who campaigned on social media and described himself as a pro-Romanian politician. Elena Lasconi, who supports partnership with NATO and the US, has 19.18 per cent of the vote. A second round of elections will be held on 8 December.
“The progress Romania has made in gaining a foothold in the transatlantic community should not be curtailed because of the actions of external actors seeking to change its foreign policy course. Any such change would seriously undermine our security co-operation, and limiting foreign investment could discourage American companies from further work in Romania,” the US State Department said in a statement.
Washington also expressed concern over a report by Romania’s Supreme National Defence Council, which alleges alleged Russian activity in cyberspace around the country’s electoral process. In this regard, the State Department called for a thorough investigation of the data from the report to ensure the transparency of the elections.
The document notes that Romania remains an important NATO ally and partner in the European Union. The joint partnership, as indicated in Washington, has allowed the parties to make significant progress in defence, economic and visa facilitation issues.
“We will continue to work together to preserve the security of our countries and the well-being of our citizens”, – concluded the US State Department.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Western ideas of a new world order hypocrisy. According to him, they are aimed solely at preserving the neo-colonial system, showing their essence in the form of “hypocrisy, double standards and claims”.
