The coalition means that the four parties, and the ethnic minority representatives, will together hold a majority in parliament and will be able to push for a prime minister from among their ranks. There will still be further talks about what the parliamentary coalition’s governance aims will be, and who will be prime minister, though … Read more
The parliamentary vote comes amid a political crisis sparked by last Sunday’s unexpected victory by Călin Georgescu, an ultranationalist, Russia-admiring independent candidate for president. In a potential signal of how the second presidential round could go, the far-right momentum that boosted Georgescu was also visible in the parliamentary vote. In addition to AUR, two other … Read more
“A part of the electorate continues to believe in old conspiracy theories or developed new ones,” Magdin said. But the man who brought the court case, Cristian Terheș, a member of the European Parliament, who ran for president and received about 1 percent of the vote, sees no conspiracy at play. Whatever the result of … Read more
While those catchy videos were an unexpected vote-winner, Georgescu’s main campaign themes had a classic populist appeal: He cited traditional Christian values, vowed to stand up for people excluded economically, and said he would make Romania more self-sufficient in sectors such as food and energy. Adrian Axinia, vice-president of the far-right Alliance for the Union … Read more
“Romania is a warning bell: Radicalisation and disinformation can happen all over Europe with harmful consequences,” added Hayer, an ally of French President Emmanuel Macron. Hayer’s appeal comes only two days after Georgescu’s shock victory. He had no party backing and polls had failed to pick up on his popularity — though researchers are now … Read more
Georgescu, extremely religious and nationalistic, campaigned on reducing Romania’s reliance on imports, supporting farmers, and increasing domestic production of food and energy. He has also argued that the EU and NATO do not properly represent Romanian interests and claimed Russia’s war in Ukraine, a Romanian neighbor, is manipulated by American military companies. A little-known university … Read more
