Continuing the pro-European path or a leap into the unknown: Romania could elect its first far-right president on Sunday - a crucial choice for the future of the country, which is a neighbor of Ukraine and a member of the EU and NATO, writes Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
Pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi and sovereignist Calin Georgescu are the candidates in the second round of the presidential election on December 8. Calin Georgescu is a 62-year-old former state official who surprised everyone by coming first in the first round. He faces Elena Lasconi, 52, leader of the center-right Union for the Salvation of Romania party and mayor of the small town of Câmpulung.
Lasconi, a former journalist, emphasizes the stakes of the election: This is an “existential battle”, she says - a “confrontation” between those who want to "preserve Romania's young democracy," born of the 1989 revolution, and those who want to "return to the Russian sphere of influence."
Romania is going through a turbulent period with a series of elections, recounts, fears that the elections could be annulled, accusations of Russian interference and suspicions of an unbalanced treatment of candidates by Georgescu's favorite network TikTok.
In response to the declassification last night of documents showing the platform's role in the campaign, Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave his support to Elena Lasconi. Polls conducted before the Social Democrats announced their support for Elena Lasconi showed 42 percent support for the pro-European candidate, compared to 58 percent for the nationalist candidate.
Accused of being pro-Russian, Calin Georgescu now avoids answering questions about Vladimir Putin, whom he has expressed admiration for in the past. A critic of the EU and NATO, Georgescu now says he does not want to remove Romania from these organizations, but wants to restore the country's dignity. He has called for a halt to military aid to Ukraine and claims to be inspired by Donald Trump, who has promised to end the war in Ukraine.
In one of the poorest countries in the EU, Georgescu's mystical nationalist rhetoric has caught on on social media. But it is causing concern on the continent - fears that Romania, which has become strategic since the start of the war in Ukraine, could join the hard-right bloc and undermine European unity against Russia.
“The second round is seen as a referendum on the future direction of the country's foreign policy“, Marius Gincea, a political scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, told AFP.
If Romania is today “a reliable and predictable country for the liberal West, a victory for Calin Georgescu would put it on par with Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders Viktor Orban and Robert Fico are seeking to limit the supranational influence of the European Union, Gincea said.
V. “The Financial Times“ compares Sunday's runoff to a “second revolution“ in Romania. The elections are being closely watched in Brussels, as well as in neighboring Moldova, where President Maia Sandu, who holds a Romanian passport, sent a video message calling for a "strong, European and free Romania."
In Georgia, where pro-European demonstrations continue, pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili expressed hope for a victory for Elena Lasconi.
The head of state in Romania has a semi-executive role, which includes commanding the armed forces and chairing the Supreme Defense Council, which makes decisions on military aid. The president also represents the country at EU and NATO summits and appoints the prime minister, top judges and prosecutors, and the heads of the secret services.
After parliamentary elections on December 1, Romania found itself with a fragmented parliament without a clear majority, making the president's role in forming a government crucial. If no party has won an absolute majority, the head of state has the right to nominate a representative of any of the parties that have entered parliament as prime minister. Romania now appears divided. The Social Democratic Party is the largest political force, but the far right has won a third of the seats in the legislature.
It is the first time since the fall of communism that Romania has faced such a development, fuelled by the anger of many of its 19 million inhabitants against economic hardship, a war across the border and a traditional political class seen as arrogant and outdated. In a joint appeal last night, four pro-European parties with an absolute majority in parliament signed an agreement to form a future government of “national unity”, urging citizens to reject “isolationism, extremism and populism” on Sunday.