The Romanian state is attempting a coup d’état in order to cling to power, according to a candidate in the country’s disputed presidential elections.
The annulment of the elections on December 6 after the surprise first-round victory of outsider Călin Georgescu is a plot by politicians and courts to prevent radical change in Bucharest’s policy towards Ukraine, says George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians party.
“We are facing a coup d’etat against the will of the people”, Simion tells Brussels Signal.
When visiting the corridors of power in Brussels, Simion said he heard “again and again and again about the rule of law.”
He continued: “It’s exactly the rule of law which is being shattered [in Romania] and nobody seems to care”.
Simion, who secured around 1.3 million votes in the first round of the annulled election, says the reaction of the European Union to the annulment has been “shameful”.
“The EPP [European People’s party] and the Socialists are backing this coup d’etat and they are backing the current undemocratic government. We … had speeches in our campaign about Belarus, Lukashenko, about what’s happening in undemocratic countries, but we never believed that we will get in such a point where in Romania we will have annulled free elections,” he said.
Romania’s political landscape has been thrown into chaos by the constitutional court’s decision. It is unclear if the Bucharest parliament will be able to function when it meets in coming days as there are moves to invalidate the mandates of parliamentarians sympathetic to Georgescu, it is claimed. Peaceful protestors and at least one MP have been arrested near the parliament, said Mr Simion.
No-one knows when new presidential elections will take place, or if Georgescu will be allowed to stand. Simion says he supports Georgescu and would implement Georgescu’s policy of ceasing arms shipments to Ukraine if he was elected following a new presidential plebiscite.
“Romania wasn’t transparent in telling the world and … telling its own citizens that we give weapons and military aid to Ukraine,” he said. “This is kept secret and the majority of the Romanians don’t want us to help or to get involved in this war.”
On allegations that Russia interfered in the first round, allegedly via social media and TikTok in particular, Simion said there was “no proof”. While intelligence has reportedly been declassified and shown to the constitutional court, none had been made public, he said. Court members are political appointees and therefore biased, he added.
“They annulled our presidential elections without any substantial proof of foreign interference.”
“So 10 million votes were annulled by a system that fears the will of the people. It’s unprecedented inside the European Union and inside the free world, inside civilised countries. We were expecting a democratic transition of power from the current government and the current president to the newly elected leaders of the Romanian people”.
Georgescu won the first round of the presidential vote, garnering 23 per cent. Elena Lasconi, of the opposition Save Romania Union, secured 19 per cent as was due to face Georgescu in a runoff on December 8. Marcel Ciolacu of the governing Social Democrats (and prime minister) came in third while Simion came fourth with around 14 per cent, or around 1.3 million votes.
The term of the current president, Klaus Iohannis, is due to end later in December, though he is now expected to continue in a caretaker capacity. He has been in power for ten years.
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into TikTok after concluding there were “serious indications” of foreign interference in the recent Romanian presidential election using the video-sharing platform.
The video interview with Mr Simion will be posted on the Brussels Signal homepage and YouTube channel on December 19.
