Nationalist Calin Georgescu has surged to a shock lead in Romania’s presidential election, securing nearly 23% of the vote.
- Meanwhile, Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu under performed only receiving 20% of the vote.
- The result sets up a December 8 runoff between the two candidates following next Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Zooming in: Georgescu, a 62-year-old former environmental ministry official, dramatically outperformed pre-election polls that showed him with around 5% of the vote.
- Running as an independent, Georgescu bypassed traditional media and built support through social media platforms, particularly TikTok.
- Political analyst Radu Magdin attributes his success to “a combination of messianic speech, delivered in an elegant way, so as to capitalize on people’s frustrations.”
State of play: Georgescu’s campaign focused heavily on economic nationalism and reducing foreign influence.
- He called for decreasing Romania’s reliance on imports and boosting domestic food and energy production.
- His platform emphasized support for farmers and agricultural independence.
- Georgescu argued that both the EU and NATO fail to properly represent Romanian interests.
- After polls closed, he declared the result “an amazing awakening” of the Romanian people.
Flashback: Georgescu has a history of statements against Romania’s alignment with the West.
- In 2021, he called NATO’s missile defense shield in Deveselu a “shame of diplomacy” and claimed the alliance would not protect members from Russian attack.
- He previously stated that Romania’s “best chance” lay with “Russian wisdom” and expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing him as “a man who loves his country.”
- He claimed Russia’s war in Ukraine is being manipulated by American military companies.
- He previously belonged to the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) party but left in 2022 after party leaders said his pro-Russian stance damaged their image.
Defending Romania’s Legacy: Georgescu has also been attacked for defending Romania’s nationalist history.
- In November 2020, Georgescu honored World War II leader Ion Antonescu, who allied Romania with Germany, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, leader of the ultranationalist Iron Guard.
- Georgescu called them heroes through whom “he lived the national history, through them speaks and spoke the national history and not through the lackeys of the globalist powers that lead Romania today temporarily”
Zooming out: Romania has been a key supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 intervention.
- The country shares a 400 mile border with Ukraine and has experienced repeated Russian drone incursions
- Romania has provided military aid to Kiev, including a Patriot air defense battery
- The country has also established training facilities for Ukrainian marines.
Why it matters: The surprise surge of NATO critic Calin Georgescu threatens to upend Romania’s pro-Western stance and its support for neighboring Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.
This article originally appeared on the Justice Report and is republished by The Noticer with permission.
Header image credit: Calin Georgescu
