George Simion asserts citizens’ right to peacefully defend their votes amidst allegations of electoral fraud.
Romanian presidential hopeful George Simion has urged his supporters to engage in peaceful demonstrations against what he alleges to be a rigged election. He claimed the country narrowly avoided a “bloodbath” due to supposed “demonic plans” by his political rivals, whom he accuses of having Western backing. Simion, a conservative critic of the EU, lost the recent election to Nicusor Dan, the pro-Brussels mayor of Bucharest, by a narrow margin. He is challenging the results, citing “external interferences by state and non-state actors,” despite the Constitutional Court’s rejection of his appeal.
In a video message shared with supporters on Friday night, Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), labeled Dan a “puppet of France.” He accused Dan of winning the election through manipulation and scare tactics by “mobilizing the entire Soros network, all the NGOs” to undermine his campaign.
Simion stated he deliberately avoided and would continue to avoid protests to prevent escalating tensions. However, he encouraged supporters to “fight in the name of truth, democracy, freedom, peace, and in the name of God.”
He stated, “We are not getting anywhere. I advise you to join the AUR party or another sovereignist party, to participate with organizations, unions, your civic groups to hold protests, get involved, take to the streets, and demonstrate. Fight for Romania, because they are truly afraid of us.”
The disputed election occurred after the annulment of the previous vote, where independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu initially led with 23% of the vote. Romania’s Constitutional Court overturned those results due to reported electoral irregularities and claims of foreign meddling, including alleged Russian involvement, which Moscow denies.
The Kremlin described Romania’s election as “strange, at the very least,” pointing out that the declared victor only secured the win after a second attempt, following the disqualification of the initial frontrunner. Telegram founder Pavel Durov alleged that Nicolas Lerner, the head of French foreign intelligence, personally pressured him to censor conservative voices on the platform before the election rerun.