Electoral clashes for presidential election kick off at Cotroceni Palace

The electoral debates with the candidates for the presidential elections on May 4th begin. The first television station in Romania to organize the presidential debate at the Cotroceni Palace is Digi24. The confrontation between the main presidential candidates will begin on Monday at 8:00 p.m.

Digi24 has chosen to invite only the main candidates for the presidential elections to the debate at the Cotroceni Palace, because it cannot last indefinitely, and the confrontation would risk being diluted if too many candidates were present. The debate will address numerous topics, giving the candidates with the best chances of reaching Cotroceni the opportunity to answer questions in detail.

The presidential candidates participating in the debate at the Cotroceni Palace will sit at desks, from where they will answer questions. The seat reserved for independent candidate Victor Ponta will remain empty, as he announced in the final stretch that he won’t participate.

A ballot box with a bowl will be placed in the Unirii Hall, from which numbers will be drawn to determine the order in which the presidential candidates will speak. Also in the Unirii Hall, there will be specially arranged areas for the candidates’ supporters.

Romanian Television will organize the electoral debate “A President for Romania” on Tuesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m., to which all 11 candidates in the presidential elections are invited. The event will take place in the Union Hall at the Cotroceni Palace, and TVR representatives told HotNews that all 11 candidates have confirmed their presence. According to a statement released by the public television station on Monday, the debate will be broadcast live and simultaneously on TVR1, TVR Info, TVR International and TVR Moldova, as well as on the online platform TVR+ and the public television’s YouTube channel. In addition, the event will be covered by several television stations in Romania – Pro TV, Antena 3 CNN, Euronews, Prima News, Realitatea TV and Romania TV.

“The debate at Cotroceni Palace will offer all citizens the chance to better understand who the candidates are who are asking for their votes and what their plans are for Romania. The professionalism of the producers of this debate and of the journalists who will moderate it and ask questions is the main guarantee for the quality of the event on Tuesday evening. The importance of the debate hosted by TVR is also confirmed by the fact that numerous media organizations responded positively to our invitation to send journalists to ask questions to the candidates, but also to broadcast, in turn, the event, which will ensure a significant audience, in line with the current workload”, says Dan-Cristian Turturică, President and General Director of TVR.

All 11 Candidates in the Presidential Election Confirmed Their Attendance at TVR

According to TVR, all 11 candidates for the 2025 presidential election have been invited to the electoral debate:

• George Simion (Alliance for the Union of Romanians)

• Crin Antonescu (Electoral Alliance Romania Ahead – PSD, PNL, UDMR)

• Nicușor Dan (Independent)

• Victor Ponta (Independent)

• Elena Lasconi (Will appear on the ballot as the USR candidate, although the party withdrew its support)

• Daniel Funeriu (Independent)

• Cristian Terheș (Romanian National Conservative Party)

• Lavinia Șandru (Social Liberal Humanist Party)

• Sebastian Constantin Popescu (New Romania Party)

• Silviu Predoiu (National Action League Party)

• John-Ion Banu-Muscel (Independent candidate)