Călin Georgescu’s entirely unexpected rise to popularity has shocked Europe.
Most concerning of concerns enumerated, of which there are many, is Georgescu’s sympathy for Russia, which is at odds with Romania’s staunchly pro-western aims.
But what attracted so many voters?
Călin Georgescu’s ecological agricultural plan brought in votes from Romanian farmers, who have been struggling since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Romania’s next door neighbour.
The plan is quite simple, really.
He proposes responsible beekeeping and ecological agriculture with adequate funding and laws. He particularly promises to support peasants who are ecological producers – for instance, by replacing chemical pesticides and purificatory with ecological alternatives. Romania’s rivers, notorious for their filth, will be cleaning of garbage and toxic chemical residuals (here he uses mystical language, by calling them “holy places” and “life-giving”).
Critics claim that certain agriculture faculties in Romania – with Georgescu being a professor at one such university – deny and discourage EU funds in favor of grassroots ecology.
However, his manifesto does state that “the agricultural production of rural households will be organized in the form of modern cooperatives, respecting EU law”, and that a priority is the “redirection of EU funds towards the small landowner for a coherent development from the source on”.
In any case the technologies involved in ecological agriculture are enormously costly — much more expensive than those used for conventional agriculture.
