Russia has taken aim at Romania for indicting ex presidential candidate Calin Georgescu on six counts, claiming that the European Union was behind the move.
In an unusual public statement, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on Tuesday alleged that European Union leaders were “clearly” being behind the decision to bring criminal charges against ex presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, who was indicted on Feb. 26 for charges, including actions against the constitutional order.
Romania officials reacted angrily with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu saying: “Russia cannot dictate who Romanians should elect”. Romania holds a rerun of presidential elections in May. The election late last year was canceled after reports of foreign interference, later revealed as Russia.
The Russian agency, which is headed by Sergei Naryshkin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday said that: “Brussels is extremely concerned that the new American leader could weaken the European globalist superstructure and (Trump) is relying in this activity on conservative leaders with a national orientation, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu.”
Without providing evidence, the agency said that EU leaders had manipulated criminal charges against Călin Georgescu and of cancelling the presidential election last year.
“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who played a key role in invalidating the results of the first round of the Romanian presidential election, has called on the current authorities in Bucharest to ban Georgescu from participating in the second round in May. She warned that if this representative of “non-systemic forces” continues his electoral campaign, the European Union will restrict Romania’s access to its funds,” the statement said.
“The European totalitarian-liberal elite clearly fears a ‘conservative turn’ in Europe under Trump’s influence,” the SVR stressed, adding that “Brussels is sparing no resources in its attempts to implement such a scenario.”
Prime Minister Ciolacu retorted: “The fact that a Russian secret service positions itself towards decisions of the Romanian authorities is intolerable! Russia cannot tell the Romanian authorities who to investigate and who not to investigate. Russia cannot dictate who Romanians should elect and who not to elect.”
Russia cannot be a model of good democratic practices. Russia is a country where political opponents are tortured, thrown into prison or killed. In short: in Russia, human rights and democracy are a bad joke! Beyond the political rhetoric, Romanians have the opportunity to directly understand who the forces are that are trying to undermine Romania’s European and Euro-Atlantic path,” Ciolacu added on Facebook.
Romania’s Foreign Ministry called the claims “ ridiculous and completely unfounded. They are part of the series of hybrid actions carried out by the Russian Federation to undermine democracy in Romania. The set of these activities, which include public messages, influence campaigns and interference with democratic processes, is intended to reduce trust in the authorities and criticize Romania’s membership in the EU and NATO.
“At the same time, these allegations are part of Russian efforts to build a narrative addressed to its own public, given that Russia does not have a free debate space or free elections. There, any opposition is imprisoned or assassinated. Criticisms of the EU or Romania also have the role of distracting from these realities“, the ministry said.
Last week, Georgescu was charged with undermining Romania’s constitutional order, of setting up a fascist organization, and of lying about the financing of his electoral campaign.
Georgescu, 62, whose improbable win of the first round of November presidential elections plunged Romania into political chaos. Following his win, intelligence reports emerged alleging Russian interference in the election. The Constitutional Court canceled the election and the runoff was not held.
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