**Romania’s Ruling Party Loses Ground in Parliamentary Elections**
The ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) of Romania received 22.5% of the votes in the country’s parliamentary elections, held on December 1. This is a decline from previous years, according to results from over 99% of polling stations.
The far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) came in second with 18.2%, more than doubling its result compared to the 2020 elections. The center-right Save Romania Union (USR) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), which are part of the governing coalition, received 12.17% and 14.36% respectively.
The nationalist AUR party has been gaining ground in recent years, reflecting a growing dissatisfaction with mainstream parties. Its leader, George Simion, was banned from entering Ukraine in 2000 for “systematic anti-Ukrainian activities.”
**Ukraine News**
In other news, Ukraine’s government announced that its eSupport program received over 2.1 million applications on its first day of operation, including nearly half a million for children.
A Russian drone attack on Ternopil resulted in casualties and a fire in a residential building. Ukrainian forces have also reported significant losses for the Russian military, with some units surrounded and hundreds of soldiers missing.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized NATO countries for not fully supporting Ukraine during wartime, despite being part of the alliance.
**Global Support**
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Kyiv to meet President Zelensky and reaffirm his country’s support for Ukraine. The European Union has also delivered 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine, fulfilling a pledge made earlier this year.
The United States is not considering returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, despite previous agreements between the two countries.