PES President Stanishev Declares Support for Romania PM

Newly elected President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Sergey Stanishev vowed Saturday to interfere in the 2012 local election campaign in Romania to support Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

Meanwhile, Hannes Swoboda, President of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, said that the time had come for Romania's voice to be heard in the EU, according to reports of Darik radio.

"I am firmly confident that the Social Democrat party headed by Victor Ponta pursued a very good policy over the past month and this is what matters for the citizens of Romania because we saw a great deal of suffering during the right-wing rule and President Traian Basescu," Stanishev said.

"I believe that achieving social protection and a parallel reduction of the budget deficit is a very good result for a period of one month only. I believe that the socialist program will be appreciated by Romanian voters," he added.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Ponta and Swoboda in Brussels, the PES President declared that he and other party leaders would participate in the election campaign in Romania and wished Ponta success in his mission.

Swoboda, in turn, suggested that Romania's population had given a clear signal that it was interested in change the local elections in June, adding that he was positive that the same would happen at the parliamentary elections in December.

"Romania is one of the biggest countries in the EU but the country's voice was not heard much before this government came to power. It is high time that this happened," the Austrian politician noted.

Parliamentary elections in Romania have been scheduled for December 9 and pollsters indicate that the ruling ruling Social Liberal Union has the support of around 50% of the voters.