Romanian
hard-right chief pitches himself as Europe’s next Meloni
Ahead of
election George Simion tells POLITICO he would break EU law if he thought it
was necessary.
“We are sort
of a Trumpist party,” George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for
the Union of Romanians
November 23,
2024 4:01 am CET
By Victor
Jack
BRUSSELS —
Romania’s ultranationalist wannabe president, George Simion, has two role
models he hopes offer a winning formula: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are sort
of a Trumpist party,” the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Union of
Romanians (AUR) party said, but “it is not by chance that I am happy for my
party being in the same political family as Meloni.”
Italy’s
hard-right prime minister restored “hope for Italians … in the European
project,” Simion told POLITICO in an interview. “What we have seen is … a
Melonization” of Europe, he said.
And now, he
added, “believe me, there will be a Simionization as well.”
Romanians
head to the polls Sunday for the first round of the country’s presidential
elections pitting 13 candidates against each other. It comes at a critical time
for the southeastern EU nation as it faces a yawning deficit and Russia’s
ongoing war in Ukraine raging at its border.
At stake is
Romania’s positioning in the EU, with a win for Simion tilting the balance of
power in the bloc further to the right and cementing a broader trend of
democracies pivoting sharply toward hard-right politics. Despite its checkered
history of corruption, Bucharest has long been viewed as a reliable NATO
partner and EU bastion in the region.
Simion, who
cut his political teeth agitating for unification between Romania and Moldova
and is currently polling second behind the country’s center-left Prime Minister
Marcel Ciolacu, has vowed to remain loyal to NATO and work to reform the EU
from the inside if elected. That’s a similar tactic adopted by Meloni after her
election victory last year.
But other
candidates, including Elena Lasconi, a reformist candidate polling
neck-and-neck with Simion, have branded him an “extremist.” AUR rose to
prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic on an anti-vaccine platform, while the
party also drew criticism in 2022 after calling mandatory Holocaust education
in Romanian schools a “minor topic.”
Party
leadership is undeterred, however, as global political winds gust to the right.
“Even if we
are conservative, which is not to the liking of the establishment in Brussels,
even if we believe in many of the values President Trump believes in,” Simion
said, “we also believe that we need a strong, united Europe.”
The
politician insisted he would “work together” with the EU’s mainstream parties
if elected, with Romania’s full accession to the visa-free Schengen zone,
pushing for a directly elected EU executive and boosting industrial production
in the bloc at the top of his list of priorities.
But unlike
Meloni, Simion has openly vowed he would push back against Brussels even if
that means breaking EU rules in a move more reminiscent of the populist leaders
of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico.
“I would be
a liar to say we would respect EU law,” he said. “If tomorrow [there is] a new
law that we didn’t vote for … or laws that are not good for Romania,” he said,
“I will try to use all my powers to stop what is doing harm for my people.”
Meanwhile,
Simion has pledged to suspend military aid to Ukraine, whose government has
banned the hard-right leader from visiting the country over his promotion of
“unionist ideology,” like neighboring Moldova.
He has also
faced accusations of meeting with Russian spies, charges he has repeatedly
denied. Speaking to foreign journalists on Wednesday, he branded Russian
President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
Still, the
AUR party chief said he wants a cease-fire in Ukraine “as soon as possible” and
called for a peace agreement brokered by Trump — even if that means Kyiv giving
up land currently controlled by Russia.
“I cannot
say … to Ukrainians give up your national territory,” he said, “but it’s hard
to believe that they won’t be obliged to.”
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