In contrast to the pro-European protests in Georgia and Maia Sandu’s hard-fought victory in Moldova, Romania gave the pro-EU politicians in power the cold shoulder. They did so by voting in shockingly high numbers (22,94%) for the ultra-nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential election held on 24 November. Unfortunately for the dark horse who was the favourite to win the second round, the Romanian Constitutional Court cancelled the elections just days before 8 December – when Romanians were due to choose between him and Liberal candidate Elena Lasconi.
As Cristina Stoian of the Romanian online media HotNews explained, the outcome was the result of voter misinformation, unequal opportunities due to digital manipulation and a lack of transparency in campaign financing. In his defence, Georgescu described the court’s decision as a “coup” on the Romanian TV channel Realitatea TV. The decision by Romania’s highest court has grabbed headlines in publications all around the world, from The New York Times and The Guardian to Al Jazeera and Politico, which asked “what the hell is going on here?”
Why did Romanians vote for an extremist
Fed up with the current class of politicians, many Romanians preferred the far-right TikTok-focused discourse of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin admirer Călin Georgescu, who promises “everything the green Romanians want to hear: That we are a Western colony, that the multinationals are preying on us, that we have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, that the Romanian people want peace and will get it under his leadership, but also that cold baths heal the soul and the heart, and that Romania must return to crafts and traditions, in the year 2024, while the rest of the world is being robotised and entering the AI era,” as PressOne’s editorial director Adrian Mihălțianu observed.
This traditionalist attitude, along with a general dislike of mainstream politicians, seems to have found an audience. As a 27-year-old mom quoted by Andra Mureșan in Scena9 said: “This is the second time I am voting. I voted independently, I voted for Călin, although I didn’t really know anything about him. I only watched a few interviews, I only voted so that I wouldn’t vote for the same thieves again.”
The watchdogs barked
If Romanians didn’t know much about Georgescu before he won the first round of the election, they found out a lot more in a very short time, thanks to the Romanian press. After a marathon reading of Georgescu’s two published books, researcher Iulian Bocai described the candidate’s world. “A strange combination of mysticism, anti-neoliberalism, Christian environmentalism, legionary nationalism and anti-scientific conspiracy theory,” Bocai summarised in Scena9. “Călin Georgescu’s mind is a sum of beliefs too chaotic to be brought to a common denominator, although perhaps their centre still remains Christian nationalism of fascist origin, which is his refrain.”
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For proof, just look at Georgescu’s past media interviews. His anti-scientific beliefs were pointed out by popular actor Adrian Văncică, quoted by Luiza Dobrescu of the Romanian newspaper Gândul. Among many other peculiarities, Georgescu affirmed that “the man never made it to the moon,” that soft drinks like Pepsi contain nano-chips that enter our bodies, and that giving birth by C-section is a tragedy because the “divine thread” is broken. Referring to the Legionary movement, Georgescu said it’s “the strongest essence of health that comes from the Romanian people,” as quoted by Cornelia Mazilu of the Romanian newspaper Adevărul. “The Legionary movement is a plague in the history of Romania. Assassinations, murders, [gun justice] and the smoothing over of the Holocaust,” said sociologist Gelu Duminică in Mazilu’s same article. Georgescu’s fascist attitude is also confirmed by his reluctant attitude towards the press.
“I saw on the press (WhatsApp) group that you guys are very upset with me for not taking questions. Yes, I don’t take questions and I won’t tonight because you, the press, have all the answers,” Georgescu said after winning the first round of election, as pointed out by Adevărul’s Maria Dinu. Accused of being an anti-NATO, anti-EU and sympathetic to Putin, Georgescu defended himself by saying that “there’s no East or West, there’s only Romania,” as quoted by Romanian press agency Agerpres. Moreover, Georgescu also described NATO as “the weakest” alliance and declared his desire to leave it if things continue as they are now, as PressOne’s reporter Răzvan Filip noted.
Romanians are still largely pro-EU
After Georgescu won the first round of presidential election, Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin wrote on X that “Romania will soon be part of Russia,” according to Bulgarian news website Mediapool. Yet, the will of the Romanians contradicts Dugin. Between the two rounds of the presidential election, Romanians also voted in the even more important parliamentary elections, which were not cancelled. Although the extremists made gains, the pro-EU parties won more than 50% of the total votes, and are working to form a government. They will also propose a joint candidate for the next presidential election, which is yet to be announced.
The bottom line is that Romania’s pro-EU politicians need to learn quickly that egotistical strategies are a dead end. And if they want to stay in power and not endanger democracy itself, they should consider putting the needs of their people before their own. Do better, pro-EU camp.
