Who is Călin Georgescu, the surprise lead in Romania’s presidential elections?

 

Politics

Who is Călin Georgescu, the surprise lead in Romania’s presidential elections?

 

25 November 2024

Andrei Chirileasa

https://www.romania-insider.com/calin-georgescu-suprise-winner-romania-presidential-elections

 

Călin Georgescu, who is likely to emerge as the surprise winner of the first round in Romania’s presidential elections, is an environmental expert and politician with strong nationalistic views.

 

Born on March 26, 1962, in Bucharest, he graduated from the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, specializing in land reclamation and environmental engineering. He furthered his education with a master's degree in land reclamation and a doctorate in pedology.

 

Throughout his career, Georgescu served as the Executive Director of the National Centre for Sustainable Development in Romania from 2000 to 2013. In this role, he coordinated the development of two versions of Romania's National Sustainable Development Strategy, aligning with European guidelines.

 

Internationally, he was appointed as the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Sustainable Index Institute in Geneva and Vaduz for the period 2015–2016. Additionally, he served as President of the European Research Centre for the Club of Rome from 2013 to 2015.

 

Georgescu's political views emphasize sustainable development, national sovereignty, and the preservation of Romanian cultural values. He advocates for the responsible use of the country's natural resources to achieve economic growth while maintaining environmental integrity.

 

In 2020, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) proposed him for the position of Prime Minister, highlighting his expertise in sustainable development.

 

However, Georgescu has been involved in controversies due to certain statements. In interviews, he referred to historical figures Ion Antonescu (Romania’s prime minister during World War II who led the country into an alliance with Hitler) and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (founder of the far-right Legionary Party) as "heroes of the Romanian nation," a stance that attracted significant criticism. These remarks led to the General Prosecutor's Office opening a criminal case against him for promoting the cult of persons guilty of genocide and war crimes.

 

Despite these controversies, Georgescu rose as a popular figure in Romanian politics. In his campaign as an independent candidate in the presidential elections, he focused on themes of national development and sovereignty. His political agenda includes reducing Romania’s dependence on imports, supporting local farmers, increasing the domestic production of food and energy and tax incentives for Romanian producers.

 

He carried out his campaign mostly through social media channels such as Facebook and TikTok and was almost absent from mainstream media.

 

In November 2024, the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) mandated that Georgescu remove all online promotional materials due to non-compliance with electoral regulations. Georgescu responded by emphasizing his commitment to a campaign without financial backing, viewing the BEC's decision as an attempt to intimidate him and his supporters.

 

Labeled as far-right and pro-Russia by local and international media

 

In their coverage of the presidential elections in Romania, top international publications have labeled Calin Georgescu as a far-right, pro-Russia candidate.

 

Reuters reports that Georgescu, is a hard-right NATO critic, known for his pro-Russian and anti-NATO views. Reuters notes that he has criticized NATO's missile defense in Romania and doubted the alliance's capacity to protect its members from Russian attacks.

 

The Financial Times notes that Georgescu's victory reflects significant dissatisfaction with the current government, plagued by accusations of corruption and mismanagement. According to FT, Georgescu's controversial stances include questioning Romania's NATO membership and praising both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Romania's pro-Nazi dictator Ion Antonescu. 

 

Associated Press highlights that Georgescu's success represents a significant challenge to the political establishment, attributed to a populist manifesto focusing on domestic concerns like supporting farmers, reducing imports, and increasing food and energy production.

 

When questioned in a Digi24 interview about his position on the war in Ukraine, Georgescu said Ukraine shouldn’t be a concern and that the president’s job is to take care of Romania. During his campaign, he spoke about “peace”.

 

Local website defapt.ro has made a roundup of Georgescu's most controversial statements, labeling him "more nationalistic than Simion and more pro-Russian than Sosoaca (Diana Sosoaca - e.n.)":

 

“The Romanian nation has never lived through slaves but through Mihai Viteazul, Horea, Avram Iancu, Cuza, Kogălniceanu, Cuza again, through Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, through Marshal Ion Antonescu, and many, many other heroes. Through them, the national history has lived. Through them, the national history has thrived, not through the lackeys of globalist powers who temporarily govern Romania today,” stated Călin Georgescu, according to defapt.ro. “Zelea Codreanu fought for the morality of the human being,” Georgescu said when asked about the assassinations orchestrated by Codreanu.

 

On Vladimir Putin, he remarked: “Vladimir Putin is a man who loves his country. From my perspective, he is someone who understands diplomatic angles very well, masters them, and is surrounded by highly skilled professionals.”

 

In April 2021, Georgescu stated that “Romania’s chance lies in Russian wisdom,” referring to the tense situation in Ukraine at that time. He also claimed that Ukraine is an “invented state” and that Romania “would have gained more” if it had maintained better relations with China and Russia—arguments aligning closely with Russian propaganda themes in Romania.

 

After casting his ballot on Sunday, Georgescu said in a post on Facebook that he voted “For the unjust, for the humiliated, for those who feel they do not matter and actually matter the most … the vote is a prayer for the nation.”

 

After the exit polls indicated a surprise score for him on Sunday evening, Georgescu said: “The Romanian people cried out ‘peace,’ and they cried out very loudly, extremely loudly. If the political parties had taken a little time to listen and less time to speak, perhaps this cry would not have been so loud. This cry for peace was not a cry of joy; it was one of suffering. (…) Today, the Romanian people passed through the eye of the needle, but the oligarchic system did not. In other words, the wealthy of the system in Romania have become poorer today, while the ‘poor’ Romanian people have become richer.”

 

editor@romania-insider.com

Romanian court defers decision on annulling presidential vote

 

Romanian court defers decision on annulling presidential vote

 

Court has ordered recount of vote won by far-right candidate and will decide whether it needs to be rerun

 

Jon Henley Europe correspondent

Fri 29 Nov 2024 12.08 EST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/29/romanian-court-to-rule-on-whether-presidential-election-should-be-rerun-calin-georgescu

 

Romania’s constitutional court has deferred a decision on whether to annul the first-round vote in the country’s presidential election until Monday, a day after parliamentary elections in which far-right parties are forecast to post major gains.

 

The court, which had already ordered a recount, considered for two hours on Friday a request to annul the 24 November vote, which was won by Călin Georgescu, a far-right, Moscow-friendly independent who had previously been polling at barely 5%.

 

Amid multiple allegations of fraud and foreign interference, the head of Romania’s central election bureau, Toni Greblă, earlier said that the first round of the presidential election could be rerun on 15 December, with the runoff two weeks later.

 

That would delay both presidential votes until after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, which polls suggest the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) could win with about 22% of the vote, just ahead of the centre-left Social Democrat party (PSD).

 

A second far-right party, SOS Romania, headed by an MEP that the constitutional court barred from running in the presidential vote over antisemitic, anti-western and undemocratic statements, is also on track to win seats in the 330-member parliament.

 

Both votes are seen as critical to the future direction of Romania, hitherto a reliable EU and Nato ally – and strategically important for western support for Ukraine – which, since emerging from communism in 1989, has largely evaded nationalist populism.

 

The court is considering a request to annul the first-round vote filed by a conservative politician who has alleged electoral fraud by the runner-up, the centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, in a case that risks tarnishing public faith in state institutions.

 

“We are in a place where the constitutional court decides for the Romanian collective public life in a manner that supersedes its purpose,” said Sergiu Miscoiu of Babeș-Bolyai University, adding that Romanians would “no longer trust anything”.

 

Georgescu came from nowhere to comfortably win the presidential election first round after a campaign that he declared had incurred zero expenses and was based heavily on viral TikTok videos, reportedly boosted by bot-like activity.

 

If the court does not annul the result, he is due to face Lasconi in an 8 December runoff. However, his sudden and unforeseen surge has prompted intense speculation in Romania and beyond about possible foreign interference in the vote.

 

The country’s presidential office said on Thursday that officials had detected online efforts to influence voting and noted “a growing interest” on the part of Russia “to influence the public agenda in Romanian society”.

 

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday that any accusations of Russian interference in Romania’s presidential election were groundless.

 

Romania’s presidency also said Georgescu had benefited from “massive exposure due to preferential treatment” by the social media platform TikTok, which it said had not marked the far-right candidate’s content as political.

 

TikTok has dismissed the allegations, saying it enforces guidelines against election misinformation. A spokesperson on Thursday said it was “categorically false” to suggest Georgescu’s account was treated differently from those of other candidates.

 

Georgescu has called for an end to the war in Ukraine, denied the existence of Covid-19, described two second world war-era Romanian fascists as “national heroes” and claimed that in foreign affairs Romania would benefit from “Russian wisdom”.

 

The constitutional court – which was supposed to validate the first-round result by Friday for the runoff to go ahead – can legally annul the first-round vote only if it finds evidence of fraud affecting the two candidates who reached the runoff.

Romania votes in parliamentary election amid claims of Russian interference

 

Romania votes in parliamentary election amid claims of Russian interference

 

Success in presidential poll of far-right populist Călin Georgescu has triggered nightly protests across country

 

Associated Press in Bucharest

Sun 1 Dec 2024 03.48 EST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/01/romania-votes-in-parliamentary-election-amid-claims-of-russian-interference-calin-georgescu

 

Romanians are casting ballots in a parliamentary election sandwiched between a two-round presidential race that has plunged the European Union and Nato member country into unprecedented turmoil after allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference.

 

Sunday’s vote will elect a new government and prime minister and determine the formation of the country’s 466-seat legislature. Romanians who are abroad have been able to vote since Saturday.

 

The legislative vote comes a week after the first round of a presidential race in which a controversial far-right populist who had been polling in single digits won the most votes. Călin Georgescu, 62, is due to face the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union party or USR, in a runoff on 8 December.

 

Georgescu’s success, which many have attributed to his rapid rise in popularity on the social media platform TikTok, has triggered nightly protests throughout Romania by those who oppose his past remarks praising Romanian fascist leaders and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and view him as a threat to democracy.

 

Many observers believe the presidential outcome indicates a sharp shift from Romania’s mainstream parties to more populist anti-establishment parties, whose voices have found fertile ground amid high inflation, high cost of living and a sluggish economy.

 

Alexandru Rizescu, a 24-year-old medical student, says he was surprised by the result in the first-round presidential ballot and that it was an “obvious sign” Europe at large was shifting towards far-right populism.

 

“Most of us are sick of these big parties, but now we have to think about the … lesser evil,” he said. “If Georgescu becomes president, with a favourable parliament, it’s going to be wild.”

 

According to a report by Expert Forum, a Bucharest-based thinktank, there was an explosion of engagement on Georgescu’s TikTok account before last week’s vote, which it said appeared “sudden and artificial, similar to his polling results”.

 

Without naming Georgescu, who declared zero campaign spending, Romania’s top defence body said on Thursday that “a presidential candidate benefited from massive exposure due to preferential treatment” granted by TikTok. Romania has become a “priority target for hostile actions” by Russia, it added. The Kremlin denies it is meddling.

 

The same day, the country’s constitutional court requested a recount of all 9.4m votes after a presidential candidate who obtained 1% filed a complaint alleging the USR had violated electoral laws against campaign activities on polling day. The central election bureau approved the request and said scanned reports were due to be sent in by Sunday night. On Friday, the court postponed a decision until Monday on whether to annul the vote.

 

Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said Sunday’s ballot could be reshaped by Georgescu’s success, with far-right parties possibly obtaining record highs.

 

“The impact of the surprise in last Sunday’s presidential election will be significant, and we are going to wake up in a new political reality,” he told the Associated Press. “Georgescu voters will speak again and will reshape how we look at the political Romanian spectrum from now on and probably forever.”

 

“We are going to wake up on Monday in a new political reality in Romania,” he added. “The most probable scenario will be a difficult-to-build majority in the parliament to support and endorse a new government.”

 

Despite the two main opposition parties – which have dominated post-communist politics in Romania – the Social Democratic party (PSD), and the National Liberal Party (PNL), formed an unlikely coalition in 2021 that has become increasingly strained. A small ethnic Hungarian party exited the cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute.

 

While the presidential role in Romania has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security and foreign policy, the prime minister is the head of the nation’s government.

 

Recent surveys have suggested the top three parties in Sunday’s race will be the PSD, the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians and the PNL. After rising to the political scene eight years ago on an anti-corruption ticket, the USR’s popularity has diminished in recent years, but could garner the next most votes.

 

More minor parties that may not pass the 5% threshold to enter parliament include the pro-EU reformist REPER party and the liberal-conservative Force of the Right. Some have predicted that the far-right nationalist SOS Romania party, and the recently formed and little-known party of Young People, which has backed Georgescu, could pass the threshold.

Romania votes for new parliament after disputed first-round presidential...

📰 Sky News Press Preview | Saturday 30 November

Incumbent centre-right coalition likely to form next govt • FRANCE 24 En...

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in pole position to form new Irish government

 

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in pole position to form new Irish government

 

But Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald vows to fight for left alliance for government as Greens face wipeout

 

Lisa O'Carroll in Dublin

Sat 30 Nov 2024 15.05 EST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/30/fianna-fail-fine-gael-irish-government-sinn-fein-coalition

 

Ireland has bucked the European trend of elections going against incumbent governments, with two of the parties in its ruling coalition in pole position to lead the next parliament.

 

An exit poll showed an appetite for change, with 60% backing opposition parties. But the prospect of an alternative left-leaning government still looks unlikely to materialise.

 

The poll showed leftwing, nationalist Sinn Féin slightly ahead, with 21.1% of first-preference votes, followed by the two main parties in the outgoing coalition, centre-right Fine Gael at 21% and centre-right Fianna Fáil at 19.5%.

 

But with both those parties ruling out a partnership with Sinn Féin, they remain favourites to form the next government. They are expected to get between 30 and 40 seats each, which, with a third party, could make the 87 seats needed for a majority.

 

The deputy leader of the Social Democrats, Cian O’Callaghan, said early tallies suggested it would emerge as the fourth biggest party, with more than eight seats. Making an early pitch for a role in a coalition, he said: “This is our best election in our nine years. After the results are all in, we will talk to all parties. We talked to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael last time, and we will again this time round.”

 

Arriving at the main count centre in Dublin, Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, was met with a chaotic media scrum.

 

Flanked by the party’s leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, she declared her intention to try to create a government, saying the result had given Sinn Féin the same legitimacy as the two established parties.

 

“Two-party politics is now gone,” she said. “It’s been consigned to the dustbin of history. That, in itself, is very significant. The question now arises for us: what do we do with that? And we are clear that we want to change people’s lives. I believe another five years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is bad news for society.”

 

The biggest upset is expected to be the wipeout of the Green party, which, with 12 seats, had been the third partner in the outgoing coalition.

 

By Saturday evening, they looked to have lost nearly all their seats, with leader Roderic O’Gorman also in danger.

 

Migration, an inflammatory issue in many recent elections in Europe, failed to fire up the electorate, with an exit poll showing it was the top priority for just 6% of voters, despite violent clashes over asylum seekers in the last year. Housing and homelessness was the the top issue, followed by the cost of living, health and the economy.

 

Counting of votes in the 43 constituencies began at 9am on Saturday but with Ireland’s proportional representation system final results may not be known until Sunday night or Monday.

 

The Green party’s former leader, Eamon Ryan, said he had been “sharing commiserations” with colleagues but “holding heads high”.

 

He told RTÉ: “Change is difficult. Sometimes, when you’re driving change, it upsets things. … I think in a general election people were voting for government and maybe we were caught in that squeeze. People who wanted to retain the current government have voted Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and not us.”

 

The tallies suggest potential trouble for Fianna Fáil in Wicklow, where the party’s only candidate in the constituency – the health minister, Stephen Donnelly – is in danger of losing his seat.

 

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Jack Chambers, the departing Fianna Fáil finance minister, said the national result was “too close to call” but said the exit poll showed the public did not want the “volatility” that had spread in other countries on the back of the rise of the far right.

 

Gary Murphy, a professor of politics at Dublin City University, told RTÉ:“I think there is a problem that Irish politics has faced since the fragmentation and the economic crash in 2011 – that now we’re not sure who’s going to be in government.”

 

Fine Gael’s director of elections, Olwyn Enright, said the exit poll had been a “positive” prediction for the party, but that she had been “surprised” with survey results that put Sinn Féin’s McDonald as the preferred taoiseach against the incumbent, Simon Harris, who had a difficult final campaign week. In the poll, 34% said they would like McDonald to be taoiseach against 27% for Harris.

 

People count ballot papers in a town hall next to a sign that says General Election 2024

Ireland’s voters unhappy with taoiseach Simon Harris, election exit poll shows

Read more

The inconclusive results mean that all eyes will now turn to the search for coalition partners. Government formation talks could take weeks – with, possibly, no new government until January.

 

Elsewhere, the election threw up surprises. In Dublin Central, Gerry Hutch, a gangland figure released from bail recently in Spain to run for election, looked to be in contention for the last of four seats.

 

Social Democrat Gary Gannon, a certainty for the third seat behind Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe and McDonald, said “austerity from the financial crash” had destroyed some communities, which felt a “real sense of loss and pain over housing and poverty” that the current government had failed to fix in the last five years.

 

As the postmortem into the election began, Bríd Smith of the socialist party People Before Profit–Solidarity blamed Sinn Féin for not setting out a narrative of change stronger and earlier.

 

Another small party, the conservative republican party Aontú, said the country needed alternatives. Its leader, Peadar Tóibín, told RTÉ that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two parties that emerged from the ashes of the civil war in the 1920s, were “becoming one party in many ways” and impossible to distinguish from each other.