France calls Romanian election results a slap in the face to NATO and the EU

French politician and leader of the Patriots party Florian Philippot said on November 25 that the possible victory of independent candidate Calin Georgescu in Romania's presidential election is a slap in the face for the European Union and NATO.

"A huge surprise in Romania, where an anti-EU and anti-NATO candidate has won the presidential election. <...> What a great slap in the face to the EU and NATO," he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Filippo also noted that Georgescu favors "a world that wants to end financial and military support for the Kiev regime."

Earlier in the day, the Libertatea newspaper reported that after processing 98.7% of ballots, Georgescu won 22.65% of the vote, incumbent Romanian Prime Minister and head of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu - 19.46%, and a supporter of anti-Russian policy leader of the "Union for the Salvation of Romania" Elena Lasconi - 18.93%. A total of 14 candidates are running in the elections.

At the same time, Ruslan Andreev, an expert of the Polylog Group, told Izvestia that Georgescu's victory in the first round of the presidential election in Romania could harm Ukraine for a number of reasons. According to the political analyst, his victory will strengthen the positions of other pro-national state leaders.

Before that, on October 6, the Romanian Supreme Court excluded far-right politician Diana Shoshoake from the list of candidates in the presidential election without explaining the reasons. Politicians from various quarters called the court decision an unprecedented threat to legal values.