BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) 鈥 George Simion, a nationalist and vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, won Romania鈥檚 first-round presidential election redo by a landslide after capitalizing on widespread anti-establishment sentiment.
The 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, will face a pro-Western reformist in a May 18 runoff that could reshape the European Union and NATO member country鈥檚 geopolitical direction.
Romania鈥檚 political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right topped first round. The decision followed allegations of , which Moscow has denied.
鈥淔or 35 years, the Romanian people lived the lie that we are a democratic country,鈥 Simion, who came fourth in last year鈥檚 race and later backed Georgescu, told The Associated Press last week. 鈥淎nd now the people are awakening.鈥
Who is George Simion?
Born in 1986 in Romania’s eastern city of Focsani, Simion took a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business and administration in Bucharest, and later a master鈥檚 degree at a university in the northeastern city of Iasi researching communist-era crimes. He also became involved in soccer ultra groups.
He took part in civic activism, including joining a protest movement against a by a Canadian company in a mountainous western region of Romania that contains some of Europe鈥檚 largest gold deposits. He also campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova.
In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for 鈥渇amily, nation, faith, and freedom,鈥 and has since doubled its support to become Romania鈥檚 second largest party in the legislature. It opposes same-sex marriage and has close ties to the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Simion supports Trump and told AP last week that the AUR party is 鈥減erfectly aligned with the MAGA movement,鈥 referring to the U.S. president’s Make America Great Again movement.
What does the MAGA-style populist stand for?
Simion鈥檚 political platform has been built on a fiercely anti-establishment agenda and populist rhetoric. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his party , capitalizing on a widespread distrust of the authorities.
He labelled the canceled election last year a 鈥渃oup d’etat,鈥 and adopted stronger populist rhetoric and religious messaging to tap into Georgescu鈥檚 electorate. He has branded Romania鈥檚 current political system as a 鈥渉ybrid regime鈥 that failed to deliver democracy after the 1989 revolution toppled communism.
鈥淭hey voted for the change, and they were not allowed to make this change,鈥 he told the AP. 鈥淭his is why I鈥檓 running again as a duty towards democracy, towards the constitutional order, to restore the rule of law, to restore the will of the Romanian people.鈥
A Simion presidency would pose unique foreign policy conundrums. His activities in Moldova led to an expulsion and multiple entry bans on allegations of trying to destabilize the country. He is also banned from entering neighboring Ukraine for 鈥渟ystemic anti-Ukrainian鈥 activities. 鈥淚t is in their interest to have good relations with us,鈥 he said of the two countries.
In March, Simion sparked controversy after remarking during a protest that those responsible for barring Georgescu’s second bid for presidency should be 鈥渟kinned in a public square,鈥 prompting prosecutors to launch a criminal probe for inciting violence. He denied the accusation saying it was a political metaphor.
What is his stance on the EU and NATO?
Observers have long viewed him of being pro-Russian and warn that his presidency would undermine both Brussels and NATO as the war rages on in Ukraine. He refuted the accusations as a 鈥渟mear campaign鈥 by leftists and said Russia has been the 鈥渕ain threat鈥 to Romania in the last 200 years and remains so today.
鈥淭his is why we need a strong NATO and we need troops on the ground in Romania, in Poland and in the Baltic states,鈥 he said, although he was against sending further military aid to Ukraine.
鈥淭he danger is not who will be the next president of Romania but 鈥 those who want to create a distance and to form two different opposing geopolitical blocs” between the European Union and the U.S., he said.
On the EU, Simion said, 鈥淲e want more power to the 27 states, not toward the European institutions,鈥 and that he is 鈥渢otally aligned鈥 with the position of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was the only EU head of government to attend Trump’s inauguration in January.
What do his critics say?
Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, said Monday that a Simion presidency would be 鈥渂ad news鈥 for Romania and Europe, and accused the AUR leader of having 鈥漝isdain for democratic processes.鈥
鈥淕eorge Simion is not a conservative politician. He is an anti-European extremist. His election would endanger Romania, threaten European stability, and serve as a strategic victory for Russia,鈥 he said. 鈥淗e offers no viable solutions to Romania鈥檚 challenges.鈥
For Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, accusations that Simion is extremist or pro-Russian are overblown. He says a Simion presidency could look similar to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, who has long been a thorn in the side of Brussels.
鈥淢y main criticism has to do first with his values. He鈥檚 a strong opponent of any sort of what people are considering to be identity politics, so he鈥檚 going to push back very hard on LGBT issues and gender issues,鈥 Tufis told AP.
He added that Simion lacks a strong team to deal with major crises. 鈥淲hen it comes to dealing with geopolitical crisis, they are completely unauthorly unprepared,鈥 he said.
