Candidates and parties used some of the most weird and ingenious methods to compel voters to choose them in Romania European Parliament elections due to take place on Sunday, November 25. Several weeks of campaign saw them on skating rinks, tasting pickles, courting porn stars and beginning a new life as bloggers. This is the first European poll in the country since joining the EU in January this year.

Fragrant gifts

The main opposition party, the Social Democrats (PSD), campaigned through Bucharest streets offering personalized car fragrance cardboards printed with slogans mocking the alliance that came to power in 2004 only to fell apart two years later.

The PSD also spread posters with one of their 'sexiest' candidates for the EP, Magda Bistriceanu, hoping to impress male voters.

Meanwhile, the governing Liberals (PNL) invented the electoral chewing gum - packs of gum printed with the message "Don't let yourself BLINDED! You feel how good it is to know! Vote PNL!". The Romanian word for 'blinded' is 'orbit', the same as the chewing gum brand.

Strip bar turned into voting section

In the Moldavian, Eastern Romanian city of Focsani, a strip bar, 'the Golden Crown', was turned into a voting section for the Sunday elections.

In Galati, young members of the small Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) delivered bags with lemons and oranges to passers-by to have them get rid of what they called the sick sensation produced by the sausages of Romanian-style electoral campaigns, where many politicians are calling people to street parties with free sausages and tuica, a Romanian spirit drink.

President Basescu as a Jedi Knight

The European poll takes place simultaneously with a referendum call by President Traian Basescu for the introduction of uninominal voting in Romania. The