Romania caught up in the nationalist-populist and pro-Russian wind

6 mins

Anti-Western, anti-NATO, against the aid provided to Ukraine, even anti-Semitic, according to several analysts, but pro-Russian. Rarely will a favorite in the second round of the Romanian presidential election have brought all of this together on his CV. And yet, Călin Georgescu, 62, an independent candidate, did it.

Sunday November 24, during the first round of the presidential electionthis trained agronomist, who became an environmental specialist and, for many years, a senior official in various national and international institutions, created a big surprise by coming first in the first round of the presidential elections. With more than 2.2 million votes on his name, Călin Georgescu is three points ahead of his future opponent Elena Lasconi, 52 years old and candidate of the Save the Union Romania (USR, center right).

How can we explain this unpleasant surprise for the pro-Western camp, in vogue until now in Romania? Analysts on site put forward several factors.

First of all, a trend in the spirit of the times », already visible in Europe. She goes from Hungary to Viktor Orban to the Slovakia of Robert Fico, via the Italy of Giorgia Meloni. To a lesser extent, this trend also affects France and the growing success of the National Rally. But also in the United States, with the election of Donald Trump.

A vote of revolt, an anti-system, anti-establishmentto overturn the table where the same people had been sitting for more than 30 years: the social democrats (PSD) heirs to the communists of the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, and the liberals (PNL) of the current president Klaus Iohannisin office for 10 years. The PSD and the PNL currently form the governing coalition in Bucharest. This alliance, judged unnatural by voters, is the reason why many Romanians felt ignored and betrayed.

Atypical electoral campaign on TikTok, anti-Semitism and conspiracyism

To this populist and detachment wave which is spreading more and more everywhere, is added an atypical electoral campaign, at least for Romania, led almost exclusively by Călin Georgescu on the network TikTok. The latter is not subject to any regulation in Romania. Several commentators have also given the nickname “ TikTok candidate » to Călin Georgescu. Other journalists reported troll farms, fake profiles run by robots that would have increased the visibility of the independent candidate’s publications. This also partly explains the very good scores obtained by the independent candidate within the Romanian diaspora scattered all over the world, but especially in Europe.

The hybrid war launched by Russia, in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, also played a significant role in the result obtained. Because no pollster could have imagined that this candidate, unknown to the general public, could have obtained more than 8%: on Sunday, November 24, he obtained almost three times as much. The disinformation campaign on the internet has had its effect on a population that is little or poorly educated on the subject.

Finally, the propaganda made by the Romanian Orthodox Church, widely listened to by millions of Romanians, was also a factor in mobilizing in favor of Călin Georgescu, a fervent practitioner. Conspiracyist and anti-vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic, Călin Georgescu rejected all the health solutions put in place by the authorities. Like many other believers, he preferred to promote methods ” traditional » to fight evil, namely… swimming in an icy lake.

Călin Georgescu’s anti-Semitic rhetoric was also able to be heard due to a lack of political will on the part of the major parties to combat hate speech. Almost no legal sanctions were imposed against anti-Semitic statements during the campaign, although a law exists to this effect. This impunity allowed their increasingly wide dissemination, in particular to praise Romanian historical figures who organized and committed the Holocaust in Romania during the World War II.

A ” Georgescu effect » for the legislative elections

Last Sunday, Călin Georgescu and George Simion, another far-right pro-Russian nationalist candidate, together received almost 37% of the vote, or 3.4 million votes. George Simion, who came in fourth place on Sunday, has already welcomed the fact that “ sovereignism came in first position on Sunday “.

In a few days, Sunday December 1st, Romanians will be called to the polls again as part of the single round of legislative elections. In the absence of a party dedicated to the cause of the winner of the first round of the presidential elections, other far-right and pro-Russian movements, notably the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) of George Simion, could enjoy “ the Georgescu effect “. For their part, the pro-European forces risk once again paying the price. They seem visibly incapable of promoting to the population the benefits of the country’s membership in the EU and NATO.

As for a possible victory for Călin Georgescu in the second round of the presidential elections on December 8, this would represent an enormous triumph for the master of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin.

Also note that for the first time since the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the representative of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) will be absent from the second presidential round. In the wake of his historic defeat, current Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned as head of his party. Likewise, Nicolae Ciucă, former Prime Minister and member of the ruling coalition alongside the Social Democrats, resigned from his post as president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) after a disappointing fifth place obtained on Sunday.

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