EU urges rapid new Romanian government, notes fraud charges

The European Commission said Wednesday it hopes that a new Romanian government is formed rapidly after weekend polls, to press ahead with reforms needed for EU entry, adding that it took note of fraud charges.

"At this stage it is too early to see who will form a government," said a spokeswoman for the commission, the EU's executive arm charged with overseeing Romania's preparations to join the EU with a target date of 2007.

"But in any case the commission wishes that this happens rapidly and that the government continues on the path of reforms in order to fulfil timely all the criteria for EU membership," she added.

In legislative elections Sunday outgoing Prime Minister Adrian Nastase's Social Democrats took most votes, with 37.13 percent, followed by the centre-right Justice and Truth alliance of Bucharest mayor Traian Basescu.

In the first round of presidential ballots held on the same day Nastase came top and now faces a run-off against Basescu on December 12.

But Basescu's alliance has called for both the presidential and parliamentary elections to be annulled because of alleged fraud -- a call rejected late Tuesday by the country's election board.

In Brussels the commission spokeswoman, asked about the fraud allegations, cited from OSCE ballot monitors' report which said the polls were "carried out in accordance wth the legal and procedural requirements."

"Having said that we take note of (the charges) and we will be following the substantiation of this kind of allegations, also in the light of the evaluation of the continued fulfilment of the (EU's) political criteria," she said.

Romania is hoping to join the EU along with neighbouring Bulgaria in January 2007. But first of all it must meet a swathe of exacting political and economic criteria.

The two Balkan countries were left out of the "big bang" expansion in May which saw 10 mostly ex-communist countries join the Union.