The politician HAS MADE IT to the Romanian presidential runoff by obtaining 40% of the vote.
What are his political leanings? 

🌏Not by elections alone  

The leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians party seeks “TO RESTORE CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER” in Romania. 

“I have a single objective: to give back to the Romanian people what was taken from them,” Simion noted after casting his ballot.

🌏Georgescu-friendly

The politician dubs himself “more moderate” than independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu who was earlier BARRED from the elections.  

Simion shares Georgescu’s aversion to what he calls “Brussels’ unelected bureaucrats.”

🌏Playing hardball with EU and Ukraine 

Simion accuses EU officials of interfering in Romania's elections as he pledges to restore his country's “dignity” within the bloc.

He says “no” to sending military aid to Ukraine and wants Romania to reduce support for Ukrainian refugees.

🌏MAGA Romanian-style?

An avid Trump fan, Simion makes it clear he wants to become Romania's “MAGA president” and make history of the country.

Making Romania great again apparently means helping it “RETURN TO DEMOCRACY” and ensure the rule of law, according to the politician.

🌏Fan of Meloni 

Simion is known for praising Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a political hero and calling for the “Melonization” of Europe.

“Believe me, there will be a Simionization as well,” the politician claims.

The leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, George Simion, who won the first round of the presidential elections in Romania, can hardly be called a convenient politician for the European Union, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs and leader of the LDPR Party, said.

"Just like Calin Georgescu, who was removed due to the intervention of European "democracy," he (Simion) can hardly be called a convenient figure for the European Union. George Simion advocates the rejection of "any military support for any country," including Ukraine. However, he cannot be called an opponent of NATO. He considers strengthening Romania's position in the European Union to be his priority," the lawmaker noted.

According to Slutsky, the mood of Romanians is obvious: they continue to choose their own sovereignty and national interests, without imposition of any guidelines by Brussels.

"In this regard, the fact that the Mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan, who is in favor of supporting the war to the last Ukrainian, was behind Simion in the first round by almost half of the votes is indicative," the head of the Duma committee added.

"The European Commission preferred not to comment on these results. However, this is another "wake-up call" for Brussels: in the countries of the Old World, Eurosceptics and the far right are increasingly winning, fewer and fewer Europeans are in favor of the so-called unity, which is rapidly turning into a dictatorship of Brussels bureaucrats," Slutsky concluded.

The first round of the presidential elections was held in Romania on Sunday. The leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, George Simion, won the first round, gaining 40.96% of the vote. He is followed by Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who acted as an independent candidate and received 20.99% of the vote. Simion and Dan will be the rivals in the second round on May 18.

These are repeat presidential elections in Romania. The planned elections were interrupted at the end of last year by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CC) after nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu received the most votes in the first round on November 24, 2024. This was done under the pretext of illegal financing of Georgescu's campaign, hacker attacks on the digital infrastructure used in the electoral process, as well as alleged, but unproven, Russian interference. Despite the fact that this unprecedented step caused a scandal both in Romania and abroad, the government took note of the CC's decision and scheduled repeat presidential elections.

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