Russia Denies Interfering in Romania Elections

 by Staff Writer with AFP
12/05/24

Photo: Andrei Pungovschi, AFP

Russia denied on Thursday it was interfering in Romania’s elections, as the EU member geared up for the second round of a presidential vote that could see a pro-Russian candidate win.

Far-right contender Calin Georgescu unexpectedly topped the ballot in the first round of voting last month, shocking Bucharest’s NATO allies and prompting accusations of Kremlin interference from Romanian authorities.

“The campaign for the Romanian presidential election… is accompanied by an unprecedented outburst of anti-Russian hysteria,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said of the allegations.

“More and more absurd accusations are being made by local politicians, officials and media representatives…,” she added.

“We firmly reject all hostile attacks, which we consider absolutely groundless.”

The European Commission said Thursday it had stepped up its monitoring of TikTok in the context of Romania’s elections, after receiving information about possible Russian interference.

Georgescu’s nationalist discourse has hit a mark on social media, particularly on TikTok, where his videos have racked up millions of views.

The second round of the vote will be held Sunday, where Georgescu will face centrist mayor Elena Lasconi.

‘Romania first’: Far-right election front-runner echoes Trump

By AFP
December 5, 2024

Calin Georgescu has been hammering home his nationalist programme and dodging critical questions - Copyright AFP Anthony WALLACE
Fulya OZERKAN, Ani SANDU

Romania’s far-right presidential front-runner Calin Georgescu has put his most controversial statements aside as he goes for a single slogan echoing Donald Trump before Sunday’s run-off vote — “Romania first”.

“I am ultra pro-Trump. I think in the same way he does,” said the 62-year-old, a past admirer of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, adding that he shares Trump’s “pragmatism”.

“Romania has to be first,” Georgescu — who has campaigned against aid for neighbouring war-torn Ukraine — told the news site Politico, “like how it was America first”.

“It’s about the vision… a vision for peace.”

Since the rank outsider shocked Romania by winning the first round of presidential elections on November 24, he has dodged questions about his previous praise for Putin and his “Russian wisdom”.

Whenever he is asked if he is pro-Russian, he insists he is “pro-Romanian”.

“For me and my people, the most important is the partnership with America,” he told Politico.



– Rivals ‘cry Russia’ –



Instead he has hammered home his nationalist programme as he avoided press conferences and critical questions before Sunday’s face-off against Elena Lasconi, a centrist pro-European mayor.

While he does not want Romania to leave the European Union and NATO, he now says he wants to negotiate, “standing tall, not on our knees”, for a better position within them.

In June, he described the Atlantic defence alliance as “the weakest on the face of the Earth”. “Why stay in a club that offers no security to your country?” he said.

But in recent weeks, Georgescu seems to weigh his words carefully, anxious to unite, as journalists have started to flock around him.

“Like any candidate in the second round of presidential elections, he pivots and reframes where he senses attacks from opponents,” political scientist Radu Magdin told AFP.

“Georgescu tries to play the Trump card, while opponents cry Russia,” he added.

Like Trump, he advocates “peace” in Ukraine and opposes any military aid for Kyiv.

An agronomist, he also champions protectionism, promising to reverse dubious privatisations of the post-communist era.

Also like the US president-elect, he regularly relays disinformation on topics ranging from Covid-19 to climate change.

Georgescu, who also frequently evokes God, wrote the preface to the Romanian translation of the latest book by Trump’s incoming health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy Jr. has attracted major controversy for his anti-vaccine activism and embrace of conspiracy theories.



– ‘Magnetic’ –



Georgescu began his career in 1992 in the environment ministry before joining the foreign ministry.

From there he was posted to represent Romania at UN organisations in Vienna and Geneva.

In the 2010s, he was tipped as a possible prime minister, but it was only a decade later that he started to appear more frequently in the public eye.

During the Covid pandemic, he became a vocal vaccine-critic, frequently spreading conspiracy-laden narratives.

Once linked to Romania’s far-right AUR party, he was excluded for taking up positions deemed anti-Semitic and too radical.

AUR leader George Simion, who failed to advance in the first presidential round, has since thrown his support behind Georgescu in the run-off.

Romanian authorities alleged Georgescu was granted “preferential treatment” by TikTok in the run-up to the first round vote, with his videos viewed millions of times — an accusation the social network has dismissed.

“It’s not TikTok that went to vote, it was people,” Georgescu countered.

Several voters told AFP they saw him as “a man of integrity, serious and patriotic” and a man of “family” values, capable of bringing change.

Experts also note he managed to tap into voter anger over rampant inflation and other economic woes.

“Everyone gets him and he seems magnetic,” political analyst Magdin said, adding he talks with a deep voice like characters in old Romanian films.

Georgescu himself believes destiny is on his side, saying he “felt” a year and a half ago that he would become president.


Presidential vote seen as referendum on Romania’s European future

By AFP
December 4, 2024

Far-right politician Calin Georgescu shocked Romania when he topped the first round of the presidential elections - Copyright AFP Mihai Barbu
Fulya OZERKAN, Ani SANDU

Romania could elect its first far-right president on Sunday in a key vote for the EU and NATO member bordering Ukraine.

Far-right politician Calin Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, shocked the eastern European nation when he topped the first round of the presidential elections on November 24.

In Sunday’s run-off, he will face Elena Lasconi, a centrist mayor.

Fears are rife that under Georgescu the country — whose strategic importance has increased since Russia invaded Ukraine — would join the EU’s far-right bloc and undermine European unity in the face of Russia, at which Bucharest pointed the finger amid claims of interference in the first round vote.

“The outcome of the second round of the presidential elections is being framed as a referendum on the future foreign policy orientation of the country,” Marius Ghincea, a political scientist at ETH Zurich, told AFP.



– ‘Existential battle’ –



Lasconi underscores the high stakes of the vote in one of the EU’s larger countries with a population of 19 million.

The journalist-turned-politician, 52, has warned that the country faces “an existential battle”, “a historic confrontation” between those who wish to “preserve Romania’s young democracy” and those who want to “return to the Russian sphere of influence”.

Outgoing social-democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave his support to Lasconi, who also has the backing of the liberals.

Polls — which during the first round failed to predict Georgescu’s success — put him at 58 percent and Lasconi at 42 percent.

Having praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past, Georgescu, 62, now avoids answering questions about him being pro-Russian.

A critic of the EU and NATO, he says he does not want to leave either grouping but wants to put Romania “on the world map”.

Like his idol US president-elect Donald Trump, he is opposed to any military aid to Ukraine.

His nationalist discourse imbued with mysticism has hit the mark on social networks, particularly on TikTok, where his videos have been viewed millions of times.

If Romania is today “a reliable, predictable country aligned with the liberal West”, a victory of Georgescu would “increasingly align the country with Hungary and Slovakia… which seek to limit the supranational influence of the European Union,” according to Ghincea.

In neighbouring Moldova, pro-European President Maia Sandu — who holds a Romanian passport — in a video message called for a vote for “a strong European and free Romania”.

Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili sent her wishes for victory to Lasconi.



– ‘Reject extremism’ –



While the president’s post is largely ceremonial, the head of state has considerable moral authority and influence on Romania’s foreign policy.

The president also designates the next prime minister — a key role especially since legislative elections last weekend returned a fragmented parliament.

The ruling pro-European Social Democrats won the vote, but far-right parties made strong gains, in total securing a third of the ballots.

In a joint appeal on Wednesday, four pro-EU parties with an absolute majority in parliament signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising “stability” and calling on voters on Sunday to “reject isolationism, extremism and populism”.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Romania has never seen such a breakthrough by the far-right, fuelled by mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Romania’s constitutional court on Monday validated the results of the first round of the presidential elections.

This followed tense days with Romanian authorities alleging Russian interference and “preferential treatment” by TikTok of Georgescu — a claim the social network has denied.

Several documents pertaining to the alleged influence on the first round were declassified on Wednesday.