It was not to be: the second round of the Romanian elections gave victory to the current mayor of Bucharest, Nicușor Dan, an uncharismatic and supposedly independent candidate, but backed by all the other parties of the Romanian establishment and with the unconditional support of Brussels. The images of Dan waving an EU flag instead of the Romanian flag are an obvious sign of where the new Romanian president’s loyalties lie, but they are also a sign of the fear campaign that was used to defeat the sovereignist candidate, George Simion: We are Europe, they are anti-Europe.
After the first round and the surprising result due to the huge number of votes in favor of Simion, the campaign against the AUR candidate redoubled its efforts. Despite Simion’s statements in favor of NATO or a peace with guarantees for Ukraine, he was presented as “pro-Russian”; despite his support for the permanence of his country in the EU and his walking hand in hand with Giorgia Meloni, who is currently the politician with the greatest projection in Europe, Simion was pointed out as “anti-European”. During my stay in Bucharest these days, covering the elections with the team of La Voce del Patriota, I, like many other media, witnessed many of these statements. On Saturday, Simion gave an informal press conference in which some comments stood out: “We will make transparency the new rule of law”; “My first measures will be aimed at saving the economy, because Romania is on the way to bankruptcy”; “I am in the fight against the globalists, but my priority is the poor, 33% of our population lives in poverty and my domestic duty is to help these people”; “We are not Russians and we have no experience in annexing territories. Romania will unite with Moldova if its citizens decide to do so”.
Regarding the candidate who was canceled in the first round, Calin Georgescu, Simion shared some of his views on national sovereignty, but clearly distanced himself from others, such as Vladimir Putin, whom he called a war criminal who should be brought to justice, or NATO membership: “We need American and NATO troops on the ground, today, not tomorrow. I am the only candidate who can guarantee the permanence of American troops in Romania, where they will serve not only as allies, but also as a shield for our sovereignty and stability throughout Eastern Europe.” However, the message of the mainstream media and many European politicians has been to repeat over and over again that Simion wanted to take Romania out of NATO and the EU and ally with Russia, and we already know that a lie repeated a thousand times eventually becomes the truth.
This message, translated for the ordinary citizen, meant the end of European funds for Romania and the certain sinking of the country into absolute misery, and this lie has taken hold, as shown by the participation of more than two million people who did not vote in the first round, and even among conservative voters who, fearing what could happen, opted for the progressive candidate. Warnings about the return of “fascism” and the “ultra-right”, so common in Western Europe, were also repeated ad nauseam, but seem to have less and less effect on a population that is fed up with absolutely everything being “ultra-right”. Of course, there have been irregularities, such as the inclusion of a large number of deceased people on the electoral roll, but fear, not fraud, has been the great winner of these elections.
This message, however, was not so well received by the Romanian diaspora. In Western Europe, Simion has won in practically all countries, and in some cases, such as Spain and Italy, very convincingly. Unlike many Romanians living in their country, those living in the EU know that Brussels is not only a provider of funds, but also carries with it a series of ideological agendas that are not to the liking of a conservative society such as the Romanian one. At the moment, these agendas have not been implemented in Romania with the same determination as in other European countries; when that happens, many Romanians who voted for Nicușor Dan will turn their eyes to George Simion.
We watched the election results at AUR’s headquarters in the Romanian Senate, where, logically, the discouragement grew as the votes were counted. The defeat was hard, but we cannot lose sight of what AUR has achieved in recent years. The party was born in 2019, and the following year it entered the Romanian Parliament with 9% of the vote. In just five years, AUR is already the second political force and has contested the Romanian presidency against the coalition of all other political parties until the last moment. It is an incredible achievement and AUR is already known, in one way or another, by all Romanians, and this is its greatest victory.
George Simion came out of his office after the results were finalized, and visibly emotional, he addressed all of us present: “I will fight with you in all the battles to come. This battle is over, but I will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the battles to come”. AUR has lost a battle that I would not have dreamed of a few months ago, but the war is not over. If AUR manages to capitalize on the discontent of millions of Romanians against the establishment that has ruined their country, it won’t be long before it becomes the leading political force and will be decisive for Romania’s future. On this occasion, fear has won and the progressives can breathe a sigh of relief, but the question they must ask themselves in Brussels is: For how long?
