Ray Burke
Question:94 Mr. R. Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's and the EU's response to the election of Mr. Emil Constantinescu as President of Romania on 17 November 1996. [22842/96]
Written Answers. - Election of Romanian President.
The Romanian presidential election was held over two rounds on 3 November and 17 November 1996. Following the first round, the two leading candidates, incumbent President Iliescu, and his main challenger, Emil Constantinescu, of the Democratic Convention Party, went forward to a second round. In that second round, Mr. Constantinescu defeated Mr. Iliescu, taking more than 54 per cent of the vote.
Monitoring of the election by international observers, co-ordinated by the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights took place on the invitation of the Romanian authorities. The reports of the international observers have been positive and all are in agreement that the will of the people has been respected.
President Constantinescu will be inaugurated on 1 December 1996. The European Union looks forward to working closely with him in the future, and to assisting Romania in the difficult process of political and economic reform.