George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Aur) and a well -known critic of the European Union, has won the first round of the repetition of the presidential elections in Romania, held last Sunday. With more than 95% of the votes accounted for, Simion obtained 40.52% of the votes, according to the news portal G4 Media.
Pro-European candidates, such as former senator Crin Antonescu and the mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, achieved just over 20% of the votes each. This vote was held after the cancellation by the Romanian Constitutional Court of the results of the November elections, where the independent right -wing candidate, Calin Georgescu, had obtained 23% of the votes. The Court justified its decision by citing “irregularities” in the Georgescu campaign and intelligence reports that alleged Russian interference, accusations that Moscow has dismissed as “anti-ruse hysteria.”
Controversies in the electoral process
In March, the Romania central electoral bureau prohibited Georgescu to present again, claiming his alleged “anti-democratic” and “extremist” position, as well as his breach of electoral procedures. During the election day of Sunday, Georgescu and Simion arrived together at a voting center, where Simion declared: “We are here with a single mission: restore constitutional order and democracy.”
Simion, who has been vetoed to enter Ukraine due to its “anti-ucranian systematic activities,” argues that its exclusion is due to its “promotion of historical truth” among the Romanian minority in Western Ukraine. In addition, he has been forbidden to enter Moldova, a country that has described as “artificial” and that, according to him, “will never join the European Union.”
The Aur leader has expressed his opposition to the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, stating: “We will not send military help to Ukraine, and that does not make us pro-ruses.” He has also criticized EU bureaucrats, noting that “the EU is a notable project that brought peace to Europe after centuries of war, but Brussels has become a greedy and corrupt bubble.”
