Meet
George Simion, the hard-right Romanian election winner … who’s banned from
Ukraine
The
nationalist chief vociferously supports Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni — and
he leads the presidential race ahead of May 18’s critical second round.
May 4, 2025
10:35 pm CET
By Seb
Starcevic
Romanians
cast their votes on Sunday in a closely watched presidential election, with
partial results showing hard-right candidate George Simion taking a clear lead.
While the
official count is still underway, early indications put Simion — long tipped as
the front-runner — in first place, albeit short of the 50 percent needed to win
outright. That means he will face his second-place opponent, likely to be
either establishment candidate Crin Antonescu or centrist Bucharest mayor
Nicușor Dan, in a runoff on May 18.
So who is
the 38-year-old firebrand leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians
(AUR) — and how did he get so close to the presidency?
Trump fanboy
Simion
studied history at university and quickly got involved in activism, taking part
in street protests promoting the unification of Romania and neighboring
Moldova, an ultranationalist, irredentist ideology.
He founded
his AUR party in 2019 after a failed bid for election to the European
Parliament as an independent. Simion, who proudly wears flaming red Donald
Trump baseball caps, has described the party’s style as “Trumpist.” After last
year’s parliamentary election, it holds the second-largest number of seats in
the Romanian parliament.
Many of
AUR’s policy positions match those of Trump’s MAGA movement, from social
conservatism — it bills itself as pro-Christian and pro-family — to stopping
military aid to Ukraine.
The party’s
support surged amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with AUR tapping into anti-science
sentiment by opposing government measures to limit the spread of the virus and
fanning conspiracies about vaccines on social media.
Simion was
banned in 2024 from entering Ukraine for three years for what Kyiv called
“systematic anti-Ukrainian activities.” He denies he is against Ukraine or
pro-Russian, arguing that he is simply pro-Romanian. He has also been
repeatedly banned from Moldova, with Chișinău accusing him of endangering
national security.
Simion has
taken aim at Brussels, threatening to break EU laws he disagrees with, though
he has stressed Romania should remain part of the bloc. He told POLITICO last
month he rejects the far-right label.
Meloni 2.0
Simion has
cited right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a political hero and
called for the “Melonization” of Europe.
“Believe me,
there will be a Simionization as well,” he told POLITICO last November, shortly
before Romania’s annulled presidential election, in which he placed fourth.
In the
months since that election result was scrapped — far-right shock winner Călin
Georgescu was disqualified and a new vote ordered by the country’s
constitutional court after the Romanian authorities alleged Russian
interference propelled him to victory — Simion’s profile has soared.
Vigorously
denouncing the cancelation of last year’s election, he has framed the do-over
as a battle for “democracy, the people’s will, the rule of law and the
constitutional order,” and vowed to appoint Georgescu to a top role if he is
elected.
At a
televised debate between presidential candidates last month, he showed up with
a bouquet of flowers for Elena Lasconi, the center-left candidate who came
second at last year’s annulled vote, before walking out in protest over the
canceled election.
The
theatrical stunt epitomizes the disruptive politics of Simion, who began his
political career marching in the streets and spray-painting ultranationalist
slogans on roads across the country.
Sunday’s
election result is the culmination of his rise from fringe agitator to
far-right chief — and potentially, should he make it to Cotroceni Palace, the
presidential residence in Bucharest, the most powerful man in Romania.
Carmen Paun
contributed to this report.
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