Although communism has officially disappeared in Romania, many Romanians believe that freedom is far from intact in the former Soviet satellite state.
In the name of “protecting democracy,” the country's highest court appointed nationalist candidate Karin Georgescu, a conservative Christian who criticized NATO and the United Nations and opposed his country's involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war. annulled his first-round victory. . What is the official reason? A new largely declassified intelligence report claims Georgeszczyk's victory was the result of Russian election interference. Although Mr. Georgescu denies receiving any help from Russians, the court argues that cold, calculated Russian traces were all over his highly successful social media activity. There is.
On Sunday, thousands of Romanians (some say 20,000, others say up to 100,000) gathered in the capital to protest the court's action.
Romania's second-largest political party, the right-wing Union for the Unity of Romania (AUR), organized the protests. “We call for a second round of elections and a return to democracy,” AUR leader George Simion told Reuters.
canceled elections
Georgescu surprised the world in late November by winning the first round of the presidential election with 23% of the vote. He recently told veteran podcaster Sean Ryan that he actually won by a much larger margin, but that election fraud prevented the legitimate margin of victory from becoming clear. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolak, the media-approved candidate, came in third with 19%.
In the second round, Georgescu was scheduled to face (and was expected to win) Elena Lasconi, another media favorite who is a supporter of Romania's NATO and EU membership and the Ukraine-Russia war. But before the next round could begin, Romania's Constitutional Court intervened and annulled the results. The current president, Klaus Iohannis, will remain in power until a new president is elected. The new election process is scheduled to begin in May.
But that's not enough for the thousands of Romanians who gathered in Bucharest on Sunday.
“The authorities should tell us why they canceled the elections. We want to see the evidence,” Cornelia, 57, who took part in Sunday's protest, told reporters.
Despite the release of documents explaining Russian interference, Cornelia is not alone in remaining unconvinced. Gabriel Eleftheriou, Deputy Director-General of the Geostrategic Council, also observed these closely and agreed.
“This document does not provide any concrete evidence of Russian state interference in Romania's presidential elections or of links between presidential candidate Karin Georgescu and Russia,” Eleftheriu wrote. “On the contrary, insofar as the documents reveal anything, the documents show that Georgescu's campaign simply employed highly effective digital marketing techniques, giving him a 'relatively exponential' advantage.” (according to SRI) documents provide only disparate, contextual, and often trivial information, presented in a way that leaves plenty of room for wide interpretation. Masu.
US interference?
Stefan Marshall, a resident of Romania, wrote in the Chronicle that the Constitutional Court happened to be in Georgeszsk two days after the Biden administration threatened Romania with “reductions in security cooperation, foreign investment, and issues of importance[to Romanians].” He said his election victory had been invalidated. We will ease restrictions on entry into the United States.”
Marshall was referring to a press release issued by the State Department on December 4th. “We are concerned by the report of the Romanian Supreme Council of Defense (CSAT) regarding Russia’s involvement in malicious cyber activities aimed at affecting the integrity of Romania’s electoral process.” the State Department said. moreover:
The United States highly values Romania's contributions as a strong NATO ally and a partner in the European Union. Romania's hard-won progress in establishing itself in the Transatlantic Community cannot be reversed by foreign powers seeking to shift Romania's foreign policy away from the Western alliance. Such a change would have a significant negative impact on U.S.-Romanian security cooperation, and a decision to restrict foreign investment would deter U.S. companies from continuing to invest in Romania. Through our enduring partnership, we have made significant progress in defense cooperation and economic partnership, and taken steps toward visa-free travel. We will continue to work together to maintain national security and the prosperity and well-being of our people.
Marshall believes that what is happening in Romania is “a transparent power struggle between Western elites.”
In an hour-long interview with Sean Ryan, Georgescu explained why the prospect of him becoming Romania's president terrifies Western countries.
Georgescu
Georgescu is a former United Nations official who believes an “oligarchy” staged a coup by nullifying his victory. He tells Ryan that the United Nations is being threatened because he wants peace. He insinuates that the United Nations is a fraud and is not working to promote peace as it claims. And for that matter, so does the United States. He says the United Nations has “started a war.” He asked rhetorically, if the United Nations is truly an organization that promotes peace, why are there no representatives in Kiev and Moscow working day and night to end the conflict? And why are there so many wars around the world?
Georgescu said he doesn't care about what happens between Ukraine and Russia, only what happens to Romania. As far as he is concerned, his country is under the complete control of a corrupt government and he wants the people to be in power, not the oligarchy, not the EU, not any external power. Romania is very rich, he said repeatedly. It has great potential for coal, oil, gas, and hydropower. What is important is that these resources are utilized to the fullest by and for the benefit of the Romanian people.
In addition to his sharp and accurate criticism of the United Nations, Georgescu's views on NATO are enough to drive globalists into a corner. He points out that NATO was created as a defense organization against an aggressive Soviet Union. But now, he believes, it has morphed into an aggressive presence. NATO is working to upgrade its base at Mihail Cogucurniceanu in Constanta, southeastern Romania on the Black Sea coast, into Europe's largest base. And if the reason NATO is building up bases in Romania is to attack Russia, which he doubts is the case, that is unacceptable.
Marshall contrasts Gheorgescu's views with Romania's current president, Klaus Iohannis. He is an “obedient servant of NATO and the European Union who will ensure the support of the Ukrainian government in accordance with the instructions given by Washington and Brussels.”
strategic importance
There is no doubt that Romania has become of great strategic importance to the Western powers. That is clear from the State Department's comments regarding the invalidated election. The Mihail Cogurniceanu military base will be the largest NATO military base in Europe. This “will increase Romania's role in NATO's security architecture and give it a stronger position in the Black Sea, which is militarily dominated by Russia.” It will house 10,000 soldiers and civilians by 2030. It will be possible to do so,” the report said.
Like Gheorgescu and Marshall, Titus Tekela also shares the suspicion that a power struggle between the West and the East is at the heart of everything. In First Things he writes:
Romania's government does not claim that the voting process was tampered with. Why did the court so boldly overturn the constitutional order? One answer is that, as David Goldman has observed, Romania's runoff election meant that Ukraine could beat Russia. This means that we have arrived at a critical moment when it has become impossible to fake it. Georgescu runs on a platform of peace and criticizes NATO's efforts to change the government. Romania is extremely important to NATO's eastern flank because it hosts US military bases, participates in the Aegis Ashore missile shield, and has a large military. Georgescu's victory could have an immediate impact on the war.
