Protest settings: political crisis intensifies in Romania before the elections

A victory by Calin Georgescu in the Romanian presidential election would be extremely disadvantageous to Kiev's allies, experts say. The independent candidate and his opposition allies called on supporters to come out for peaceful protests after the country's Central Election Commission decided not to allow the allegedly pro-Russian politician to run for re-election. Prior to this, demonstrators had already clashed with the police in Bucharest. Georgescu, who advocates dialogue with Moscow and an early end to the conflict in Ukraine, is convinced that he has become a victim of a conspiracy by the EU and NATO. The European Commission told Izvestia that the elections are an internal affair of Romania, which Brussels has nothing to do with. About the new round of the political crisis in the European country and the role of Brussels in this, see the Izvestia article.

Kalin Georgescu was not allowed to participate in the elections

Romanian politician Calin Georgescu, who was not allowed by the Romanian Central Election Commission until the May presidential elections, promised on March 10 to "go to the end," but at the same time urged supporters "not to generate violence." George Simion, the leader of the Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR) party, who supports him, also called for "calm, peaceful protests and free elections," not ruling out the possibility of running. Against the background of the CEC's decision, clashes between opposition supporters and law enforcement forces have already taken place in Bucharest. And at the beginning of the year, actions against the cancellation of the election results were already held in the country. According to the estimates of the opposition, about 100 thousand people took to the streets of the capital at that time.

Georgescu received the most votes during the first round of the presidential election on November 24. However, the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the results and decided to hold the vote anew, explaining its decision by saying that the candidate allegedly illegally financed his election campaign. Accusations were also made against Russia of interfering in the elections.

As an independent candidate, Georgescu criticizes the EU and NATO, considers it necessary to put an end to military aid to Ukraine and promises to establish a dialogue with Moscow. On December 7, he told reporters that the decision to annul the election results was made under pressure from a group of EU and North Atlantic Alliance countries that benefit from the continuation of the Ukrainian conflict.

Big resignations: why Romania's president is leaving office

And whether Bucharest will remain NATO's main bastion in the Balkans amid the country's political crisis

According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the leadership of the European Union is really behind the decision of the Romanian prosecutor's office to charge Georgescu. "European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who played a major role in invalidating the results of the first round of the Romanian presidential election at the end of 2024, demanded that the current authorities in Bucharest not allow Georgescu to vote again in May. She threatened to restrict Romania's access to EU funds if a representative of "non—systemic forces" continues to participate in the election campaign," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on March 5.

At the same time, the European Commission told Izvestia that the elections fall within the sphere of national competence.

"The Commission does not interfere in the Romanian electoral process, which remains a matter for the Romanian authorities and ultimately the Romanian people," the EC representative said.

Why Brussels doesn't like Georgescu's candidacy

Obviously, the EU is extremely not interested in the appearance of another leader on the European political scene, like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. That is, someone who would pursue a policy contrary to the official course of Brussels. Kiev's allies cannot afford to collapse the pan-European support front for Ukraine, in which Romania plays a very important role, says the director of the Progressive Policy Foundation, editor-in-chief of the Balkanist portal.<url>" by Oleg Bondarenko.

— If we imagine that Georgescu would lead Romania, then we could put an end to European assistance to Kiev. Because 60% of all European logistics in the Ukrainian direction pass through the territory of Romania. Given Orban and Fico, we would have a European anti—Ukrainian front," he said.

The largest NATO base in Europe is being built in Romania. Currently, there are about 3,000 soldiers of the unit at the Mikhail Kogalniceanu Air Force Base, and by 2040 there will be three times as many. By the way, it is from the territory of the republic that the long-range radar detection aircraft of the alliance countries fly.

According to Oleg Bondarenko, US Vice President Jay D. Vance did Georgescu a disservice when, during the Munich Security Conference, he accused European countries of putting pressure on Romania and violating democratic values. Given the strained relations between Brussels and Washington under the new US administration, such support by the Trump team for the opposition candidate became a reason for European officials to resist Georgescu even more.

"There is no request for anti-Russian alarmism in Romania"

Experts explain the success of Euroskeptics in the country's parliamentary elections

Meanwhile, according to a SOCIOPOL poll conducted from March 3-7, 38% of Romanians would vote for Georgescu, while the rating of Elena Lasconi, a representative of the pro-European Union for the Salvation of Romania party, who won 19.17% of the vote in the November elections, fell to 8%. Moreover, in the absence of Georgescu's candidacy, George Simion still takes the first place with 28% of the vote, while Lasconi receives only 12%.

The right-wing eurosceptics from the AUR received almost 18% of the vote in the December parliamentary elections, and its leader really has a chance of winning if he nominates his candidacy, Tatiana Bitkova, a leading researcher at the Europe and America department of the INION RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia.

— If Georgescu is still able to participate in the elections and wins, the AUR party will only strengthen its position in the Romanian political arena. It cannot be ruled out that Simion is counting on this. We should not forget that before becoming an independent candidate, Georgescu was a member of the AUR," she noted.

The political crisis in the country has already affected several prominent Romanian politicians. The term of office of President Klaus Iohannis expired on December 21, but after the cancellation of the results of the first round of elections, he continued to perform his duties. At the same time, on February 12, he was still forced to leave his post amid the threat of impeachment, which was initiated by the Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, Save Romania S.O.S and the Young People's Party.

Although the initiators of the removal had only 35% of the votes in the lower house, the unpopularity of Iohannis and the dubious extension of his powers could indeed lead to impeachment. In particular, the Union for the Salvation of Romania even spoke in favor of such a scenario. The duties of the head of state are now temporarily performed by the leader of the National Liberal Party (NLP), Ilie Bolozhan.