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Romania sows fear in the body of the European Union with the ghost of a new Víktor Orbán in Brussels

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Romania sows fear in the body of the European Union with the ghost of a new Víktor Orbán in Brussels

“A pro-Russian candidate who admires Putin and questions Ukraine’s legitimacy represents a high risk for Romania. His result in the first round of the presidential election reflects the Russia’s hybrid war against European democracy“warns the vice-president of the popular group in the European Parliament, the Romanian Siegfried Muresan.

The leaders of the European Union are witnessing in shock a new episode of the rise of the radical populist and pro-Russian rightwhich currently seems unstoppable. In recent months alone, the ultras have won elections in several German states as well as in Austria, although in both cases they did not come to power because the cordon santé was applied to them. A faction whose most visible leader at present is the Viktor Orbanwho visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July at the start of Hungary’s EU presidency and who direct line with Donald Trump as he prepares to return to the White House.

The last chapter was the first round of the presidential elections organized this Sunday in Romania. Calin Georgescu (62) – supporter of Vladimir Putin and critic of NATO – caused a sensation by winning with 22.94% of the votes. During most of the campaign, polls systematically placed him at the back of the pack, with voting intentions below 10%.

Former member of the ultranationalist AUR party, Georgescu presented himself this time as an independent candidate and made a good part of his presidential campaign outside of traditional media. His messages have focused on the Chinese social network TikTok, with viral videos where he displays a dynamic image (riding a horse, swimming, running or doing karate) and presents himself as the candidate against the corruption of the ruling class.

Georgescu also managed to exclude the social democratic candidate and big favorite from the second round, Marcel Ciolacu, despite the implicit support of establishment of the EU and NATO. A few days before the vote, Ciolacu met in Brussels with the president of the European Chamber, Roberta Metsolaor to the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Marc Rutte. Austria also lifted its veto, held for years, on the full integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area.

@calingeorgescuoficial Importanța sportului în viața noastră. It is important that sport comes our way. Sport is that the dragoste poveste takes care to appreciate, respect and practice in fiecare zi. The sport did not go to the country and merged the captain, with the head of the champion and champions. I am a caterer for the husbands of our gymnastics, handball, football and canoeing champions. Romania has become and has champions in viitor, and today it strives to train, educate, train and inspire itself to be able to become champions. #sport #pasiune #campioni #România #disciplină #muncă #învingere #calingeorgescu #calingeorgescu2024 #românia #fy ♬ sunet original – calingeorgescu

Ciolacu announced his resignation as leader of the Socialists due to the poor electoral result, but he will remain prime minister until the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 1. This is the first time since the fall of communism in 1989 that a social democratic candidate has not appeared in the second round..

Another clear indication of the anti-system atmosphere in which the elections took place was also disqualified by the candidate of the National Liberal Party (affiliated with the European People’s Party and of which Muresan is a member), with which Ciolacu governs in a major agreement. For its part, until recently NATO number 2, Mircea Geoanawho presented himself as an independent, obtained barely 6% of the votes.

In Romania, the president has among his powers that of appointing the candidate for the post of Prime Minister and direct the country’s foreign and defense policy. In fact, it is the president and not the prime minister who represents Romania in the European Councils, a role played with aplomb over the last ten years by the popular Klaus Iohannis, who competed with Rutte to lead NATO, but who ultimately had to withdraw his candidacy due to lack of support.

Romania shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine and, since the start of the war, has supported Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea port of Constanta.

The winner of the first round of the presidential elections is the opposite of Iohannis and advocates a radical change in policy towards Russia and Ukraine. In a 2022 interview, Georgescu called Vladimir Putin one of the world’s few authentic leaders and expressed admiration for Viktor Orbán’s negotiating skills. He also called NATO’s anti-missile shield in Romania a “disgrace of diplomacy” and questioned whether the Alliance would help its members if they were attacked by Russia.

Her rival in the second round on December 8 will be the center-right candidate Elena Lasconi (52 years old), leader of the opposition party Save Romania Union, came in second place with 19.18% of the vote. A journalist by training, Lasconi defended positions favorable to the EU and NATO in the campaign and called for intensifying the fight against corruption. If she wins over Georgescu, she will become the first female president in Romanian history.

His party is attached to the liberal Renew group. “Dear Elena, your entire Renew Europa family supports you in your fight for a pro-European, liberal and progressive future for all Romanians”, wrote the leader of Renew in the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer, close ally of Emmanuel Macron.

“The results of the first round of the Romanian presidential elections clearly establish a second round: a pro-European centrist facing a pro-Russian and anti-European rivalunder investigation for pro-fascist remarks. With the war on our borders, Romania’s decision in the second round of the presidential elections will determine how our democracy will evolve,” underlines Siegfried Muresan.

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