Romanian far-right leader investigated for EU election fraud

According to a statement from prosecutors published by Digi 24, George Simion, the leader of the Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), asked his staff “to falsify several thousand lists of supporters” to allow a candidate to run in the European Parliament election.

The statement did not name Simion, but he released his own statement confirming he was the subject of the investigation which he called politically motivated.

He said he “expected” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu “to make a move this week, to try to manipulate public opinion to get AUR out of the electoral competition,” he wrote.

Romania holds local and EU parliamentary elections on June 9.

“You will not intimidate us, you will not stop us! As long as we have the Romanians on our side, nothing can bring us down!” he said, adding that if his political opponents wanted him “handcuffed” they would have to win at the polls on Sunday.

The AUR party is polling at 17 percent and predicted to come second in Sunday’s EU election behind the ruling Social Democratic Party and center-right Liberal Party, who are in a governing coalition.

In 2018, Simion was banned from from entering Moldova for five years.

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