PRESS RELEASE
Brussels
8 March 2019
The decision to obstruct the Alliance 2020 USR-PLUS from running in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament by Romania’s central electoral office is a serious cause for concern.
Reacting to the move, the co-leading candidates of the European Green Party, Greens/EFA co-president Ska Keller and Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout said:
“This coalition of USR PLUS has collected more than 200,000 signatures and was waiting for registration of the two presidents of the participating parties, Dan Barna and Dacian Cioloş. This registration did not happen, despite the two parties meeting the necessary requirements. Since the authorities are not processing this registration, the Election Office is now refusing to allow them to participate in the elections. This is the first time a list has been rejected since 1990.
“This is an absurd use of bureaucracy to obstruct political participation. We expect the S&D and ALDE to call immediately on their Romanian partners in government and demand that this movement is allowed to participate. Since we all agree that these elections are so important for the future of Europe, they should be open to all political parties to take part."
Background: Presidents of political parties have to be registered in the Official Register of Parties in Romania. Both presidents of the parties USR and PLUS meet all the legal requirements and requests to be registered. However, this register has not been updated since 2016 and was not updated in time for the Central Electoral Office’s decision.
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E paul.nolan@europeangreens.eu
M +32 475946981
T +32 26260726
European Green Party
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www.europeangreens.eu
