26 May Netherlands

On 26 May, thousands of Romanians in the Netherlands travelled to the four polling stations opened in the Netherlands and many of them travelled tens and even hundreds of kilometres to exercise a fundamental right: the right to vote.

Thank you for this huge effort, for your dignity and patience. We deeply regret that, in the end, hundreds of Romanians in the Netherlands were unable to exercise their right to vote. We also regret the disproportionate intervention and violence of the public order forces in The Hague. We are in contact with the authorities and have asked to find out the cause of this overly harsh intervention.

It was the ROMPRO Foundation that took the initiative to double the number of polling stations in the Netherlands, so that for the first time in the Netherlands we had not two but four polling stations. The Romanian Embassy supported this initiative and so these two new polling stations were created. However, reality has shown us that even four polling stations are not enough for the 30,000 Romanians registered in the Netherlands.

Throughout the day, our volunteers provided information to voters, especially in Diemen (Amsterdam). Despite superhuman efforts by the members of the electoral commissions, with an unexpectedly large number of voters, the process proved inefficient.

It should be noted that the ROMPRO Foundation was not involved in the actual organisation of the elections. According to the law, this process is handled by the Embassy, which implements the provisions of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ROMPRO Foundation has always had a very good cooperation with the Romanian Embassy in The Hague. As before, we will continue to provide volunteers to help in the organization of the electoral process.

We believe that everyone has something to learn from this experience and, together with other Romanian organisations in the Netherlands, we will make an analysis of what happened on 26 May 2019. Together we must find the best solutions, so that in the next elections (which are very close), those who want to vote will be respected this fundamental right, and those who are in the electoral commissions will not exceed their human limits of functioning. We welcome the outpouring of enthusiasm and the offers of help and involvement we have received, thank you!

ROMPRO Foundation will make concrete proposals for the creation of new polling stations in as many provinces as possible in the Netherlands, based on the official number of Romanians registered at the town halls. We want all those who want to exercise their right to vote to do so without having to wait for hours in line and without having to travel long distances.

We can't end without thanking you for the support and encouragement we received in Eindhoven and Diemen (Amsterdam) and for all the nice gestures the authorities and other organisations made to those waiting to vote! We received messages of respect and appreciation for our determination and patience and for the civilised way in which people waited for hours!

Thank you to our volunteers for their involvement, thank you to the members of the electoral commissions for their efforts and to all those who contributed to facilitate the exercise of the right to vote by as many people as possible and, last but not least, thank you to all of you who are always with us.

Any suggestions for a better conduct of the elections in the Netherlands are more than welcome at contact@rompro.nl.

We stand by you,
ROMPRO Team