George Simion, the candidate tipped to win the first round of Romania’s presidential election this weekend publicly aligns himself with Donald Trump and wants to end military aid to Ukraine.
Simion has consistently come first in polls and is expected to easily win the May 4 first round which is likely to go to a second on May 18.
If he wins the presidency, the 38-year-old Simion has vowed to give a top role to Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian candidate who was barred from running for the redo over reports he received massive and illegitimate support on social media platform TikTok from Russian sources.
AUR is a socially conservative party and wants to rebuild a greater Romania, raising the prospect of potential territorial disputes and clashes with Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria. Simion denies being pro-Russian, not a vote winner in Romania, but wants to stop military aid to Ukraine.
Simion has been declared persona non grata in neighboring Ukraine and Moldova due to his past campaigning to reacquire some of their territory.
Founded in 2019, AUR already holds the second-highest number of seats in the Romanian parliament after the center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Simion came fourth in last year’s annulled presidential contest but has won support from Georgescu’s voters as an anti-system candidate.
The vote is being closely watched internationally amid fears that a victory for Simion could destabilize a key NATO and EU member of 19 million people that borders Ukraine and the Black Sea.
Romania’s hard right has tapped into deep discontent about the corruption and ineffectiveness of the political establishment, which it claims orchestrated the cancellation of the election
