Calin Georgescu, Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of Human Rights addresses during the 15th Session of the Council of Human Rights. (UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre) License.
In Romania, voters have the option of choosing between continued rule by the country’s traditional (and corrupt) political parties, or Calin Georgescu, a nationalist who won the country’s first round of presidential election voting. Anthony Grant details the choice put before Romanians as they head into the second round of voting, writing:
Bucharest is not a capital that generates many headlines, but the rest of Europe is registering alarm as a little-known, far-right, and pro-Russian populist took a surprise lead in Romania’s presidential election Sunday. Results of the first round of voting showed Calin Georgescu on top, handily beating the incumbent prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, a socialist.
This leaves Romania’s governing party without a candidate in the second round of voting, set for December 8, for the first time in the country’s 35-year post-Communist history. Mr. Georgescu will instead face the reformist candidate, Elena Lasconi, of the center-right Save Romania Union party.
As of late Monday, Mr. Georgescu led the polls with just under 23 percent of the vote while Ms. Lasconi, a former journalist, garnered 19.17 percent of the votes in the first round. By a tiny margin, she beat Mr. Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party, who stood at 19.15 percent.
Most polls predicted that Mr. Georgescu would win less than ten percent of the vote in the first round. An independent, staunchly anti-NATO candidate described by some as an ultranationalist, Mr. Georgescu harnessed the power of social media and, in particular TikTok, which he used not only to boost his visibility — by some estimates his account has 3.7 million “likes” and 274,000 followers — but also to strenuously oppose aid to Ukraine.
More momentum came from the public’s exasperation with corruption scandals enveloping Romania’s traditional political parties, coupled with accusations of bad governance. The leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, George Simion, took 14.1 percent in the first round. Mr. Simion congratulated his opponent and stated that he was pleased that there will be a “sovereignist” in next month’s runoff.
For his part, Mr. Georgescu called the result “a surprising awakening” of the Romanian people, stating that “The economic uncertainty imposed on the Romanian people for 35 years has become uncertainty for political parties today.” An agronomist with a specialty in renewable energy who has previously served as executive director of the UN’s Global Sustainable Index Institute, Mr. Georgescu has sought to reduce Romania’s dependence on imports and boost domestic food and energy production.
Politically he seems aligned with Eurosceptics like Hungary’s Viktor Orban, having previously stated that the EU and NATO do not adequately represent Romanian interests. He has also said that the war in Ukraine is being manipulated by American defense companies and in 2022, he stated that the American anti-missile shield located in the southern Romanian village of Deveselu is part of a policy of confrontation and not a peaceful measure.
Read more here.
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