The following are in grave danger of disappearing if Romania elects an extremist, pro-Russian president, the successor to Calin Georgescu.
- Romania’s membership in the EU.
- Access to European funds.
- Romania’s membership in NATO.
- Strategic partnerships.
- Good neighborly relationship with Ukraine.
- Good neighborly relations with Hungary.
- Curbing Russia’s interference in Romania’s economic, social and political life.
- The rule of law.
- Foundations of democracy.
- The multi-party system.
- Freedom of thought.
- Freedom of expression.
- Freedom of association.
- Press freedom.
- Religious freedom.
- Relating to secularism.
Romania faces an irreversible disaster as early as the evening of May 4, if the first round catapults Victor Ponta and George Simion into the final.
The disaster will be great, but not quite irreversible, if the first round projects George Simion and, instead of Victor Ponta, one of the two pro-European candidates who have a chance, currently polling neck and neck, Crin Antonescu and Nicușor Dan.
But the disaster will become irreversible if on the evening of May 18, the AUR leader is declared the winner.
In the light of the above list, there is a danger threatening these 16 precious assets. It’s safe to say that if Romanians choose the path, it will be a national tragedy and a tragedy twice over.
- Once, by the very fact that we will lose everything good that has happened to us in the 35 years of freedom. A freedom won with blood in 1989, a freedom won so late, after almost five decades of communist dictatorship.
- Secondly, by the simple fact that Romanians, in their overwhelming majority, ardently want to continue enjoying each of the 16 points listed above. It is indicated, in fact, by all the domestic and international polls and something we see it in our daily lives – Romanians appreciate freedom in all its forms, they like to travel and work in Europe, they like to stay under the NATO security umbrella, they associate in NGOs, they associate in parties, they don’t feel like anyone dictating to them either to go or not to church, etc, etc, etc.
But, of course, none of the above is either guaranteed or forever, as we have not always had them and they were not won without great effort and a lot of patience.
In fact, in the history of Romanians, as far as the 16 points above are concerned, the length of time they existed is but a moment.
Today we have them all at the same time, but let’s remember that the possibility for each of them appeared only in December 1989, and we didn’t have them all together until late in the 35 years since we got rid of the dictatorship. Some became a reality in the ’90s – gradually, of course – while for others we waited for years after 2000 – and they also gradually took hold.
But to lose, well, to lose we will lose them much faster than we won them, and for for much longer than the years when we enjoyed them.
And if we lose them, this will by by our own hand, the hand that casts the ballot this Sunday and again in two weeks’ time.
The scenario of a potential disaster on the line, if George Simion is elected president of Romania, should be obvious even now, when disaster can still be avoided.
Because:
- George Simion’s political rise is based on an anti-Western, pro-Russian, ultranationalist, fundamentalist, ultra-religious discourse.
- In the party he leads, there are notes of anti-Semitism, neo-legionarism, xenophobia, and a tendency to hate speech.
- George Simion is verbally aggressive and physically aggressive.
- George Simion is opportunistic enough to be subservient to Trump and the MAGA camp; he is opportunistic enough to change his opinions according to political and personal advantages or disadvantages. He is also opportunistic enough to defy the electoral legislation, campaigning at any cost, because in his head, the ends excuse the means.
- Finally, if George Simion becomes the President of Romania, Romania’s problems will no longer arise only from the Cotroceni Palace, but also from the synergy that the Cotroceni Palace will permeate to Parliament. Because, let’s not forget, following the vote on December 1, 2024, in the Romanian Parliament almost a third of the seats are occupied by elected representatives from three extremist, anti-Western and pro-Russian parties: AUR, SOS, POT. A Simion president and a third of the Parliament in Simion’s image and likeness will together be a force that is difficult to impossible to fight effectively. Moreover, if Simion becomes president, in addition to the extremist-Putinist parliamentary trio that will be by his side and by his side, there will also be a not insignificant nucleus of opportunists from other parties and from various institutions or even from entire parties and entire institutions. Together, all these forces – partly compact, partly fluid – will gain a control over Romania in a way that not many of us are willing to even imagine.
- Finally, George Simion is the candidate “anointed” by the pro-Russian Calin Georgescu. Calin Georgescu, we know well today, was massively supported by the Kremlin; he has anti-Semitic and legionary ideas, the West and the EU stink for him. He wants to leave NATO, he wants Ukrainian territory, he accuses the West of starting the Third World War by attacking Russia from the territory of Romania. George Simion has never clarified clearly and beyond any doubt what separates him and what does not separate him from Călin Georgescu’s ideas – in the case that something separates him. As he did not clarify this, it is logical to start from the premise that what George Simion thinks and what he wants overlaps closely with what Calin Georgescu thinks and wants. It is probably no coincidence that George Simion refused to participate in the three electoral debates organized this week, three debates where he would have been questioned and had to respond.
No one is perfect in this world – neither the politicians nor the voters, nor the undersigned nor the one sitting at the next table.
As such, George Simion’s counter-candidates are not perfect either, including Simion’s small core of purely pro-Western and democratic counter-candidates, with theoretical chances of qualifying for the second round.
But even so, what recommends them over Simion is their commitment – as imperfect as this attachment is – to those values that are enshrined in the 16 points listed above, values and freedoms which a Simion presidency will immediately and completely throw in the trash.
No matter how much separates us, as voters, from each of George Simion’s pro-Western competitors with chances, nothing can justify a behavior at the polls that will give the AUR leader the opportunity to leave Romania without any chance of progressing to a better future.
Never mind my accent. Romania risks losing big time in Ukraine with a George Simion presidency
