The leader of the Romanian far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) George Simion has been allowed to run in the repeat presidential elections in May.
This was reported by the Central Electoral Commission of Romania.
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians was the second-largest party in last yearʼs general election. Its leader withdrew from the new presidential race in favor of pro-Russian politician Călin Georgescu. But when the latter was barred from running, Simion put forward his candidacy, writes Politico.
Simion came in fourth place with 13.86% of the vote in last yearʼs annulled election. He is now under investigation for a statement he made on March 9 threatening violence against election officials. He says his words were misinterpreted and denies any wrongdoing.
Simion has been banned from entering Ukraine since 2011. He has been repeatedly accused of contacts with Russian special services, which allegedly took place in the Chernivtsi region.
In 2024, the Romanian authorities asked Ukraine to declassify the reasons for Simionʼs entry ban. In November 2024, the Romanian government published a corresponding the SBU document. It stated that the ban was based on information about the politicianʼs systematic anti-Ukrainian activities, which contradict the national interests of Ukraine and violate state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to Ukraine’s response, Simion’s statements are aimed at “internationally discrediting Ukraine and promoting a unionist ideology that questions the legitimacy of Ukraine’s state borders”. In addition, he spread narratives about alleged violations of the rights of the Romanian ethnic minority in Ukraine.
Despite Simionʼs statements condemning Russiaʼs attack on Ukraine, he opposes Romania providing weapons to Ukrainians.
He is also banned from entering Moldova — he regularly holds street protests demanding that Moldova be annexed to Romania.
Presidential elections in Romania
The first round of the presidential election in Romania was held on November 24, 2024. Far-right politician Calin Georgescu and liberal pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi advanced to the second round. Lasconi beat the countryʼs incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu by just 2 700 votes.
Georgescuʼs leadership was unexpected, and he was accused of influencing the election through TikTok. Because of this, the European Commission even asked the platform to provide information on how the social network has reduced the risk of inauthentic or automated use of its service, as well as to list the risks arising from its recommended content system.
Romanian intelligence has found that the TikTok account bogpr, used by Romanian citizen Bogdan Pescir, participated in financing Georgescuʼs campaign. He made payments totaling $381 000 between October 24 and November 24 to users of TikTok accounts that participated in Georgescuʼs promotion.
Romaniaʼs Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election on December 6. New elections are scheduled for May 4.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.