The pro-Putin far-right politician who surprisingly won the first round of Romania’s presidential election on Sunday went viral on social media in recent days, without polling agencies recording his surge. .
Karin Georgescu, 62, a former honorary member of the ultranationalist AUR party, ran as an independent and is said to have received single-digit support in most of her campaigns. But his campaign clips on TikTok, which depict him as someone fighting against the establishment with horseback riding and martial arts, have started trending in recent days.
“This is a victory for TikTok,” said Romanian analyst and historian Ion M. Ionita. “You don’t need a party. All you need is to go viral on social media, and he definitely went viral.”
Ionita said “voters are vulnerable to messages that are unrelated to reality” as mainstream parties struggle to maintain credibility following years of scandal and economic downturn.
Mr. Georgescu, who espouses religious and ultra-conservative views that appeal to rural voters and young male voters alike, spent “zero” on his campaign, but put his faith in God and said, He said he managed to get 23 percent of the vote.
He claimed that foreign corporate interests were defrauding Romania and forcing it to import food when it could be rich and self-reliant.
Since no candidate secured 50% of the vote, Georgescu will face liberal leader Elena Lasconi in a December 8 run-off.
Romania’s election authorities last week asked Georgescu to remove his video, which was clearly intended as an election ad but was not labeled as such. His official TikTok account followed suit, but several fan accounts continued to post his campaign videos.
Mr. Gheorgescu’s success is the latest sign of how Trump-style populism is on the rise in Europe, and marks a major shift in Romania’s attitude toward the war with Russia and Ukraine.
Add Georgescu’s vote to the vote in which more than a third of Romanian voters supported AUR leader George Simion, who polling agencies considered the ultranationalists’ favorite candidate, Ukraine skeptics said. Supported candidates hostile to NATO and the EU.
Georgescu criticized Romania’s membership in NATO and military bases in Romania, including the deployment of U.S. missile defenses, calling it a confrontational move against Russia at a time when neighboring Ukraine was at war. insisted.
Days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Georgescu said the Russian president was “a man who loved his country.” Most recently, he called for an immediate end to the war, which Kiev and its Western allies say is the Kremlin’s line and that this would be tantamount to Ukraine’s surrender.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Georgescu’s victory on Monday, saying he advocated an alliance with Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was not familiar with Georgescu’s position on relations with Russia and would not predict the outcome of the presidential vote.
Siegfried Muresan, a center-right member of the European Parliament, said: “Karin Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate who praises President Putin and undermines Ukraine’s legitimacy, is a dangerous choice, especially for Romania, where there is a war on the border.” It will happen,” he said.
He said the outcome was part of “Russia’s hybrid war against European democracies”, with pro-EU President Maia Sandu barely managing to attack neighboring Moldova last month amid a massive influence campaign from Moscow. He pointed out that he had won. “Now Romanians will have to do the same in the run-off,” he added.
Although Romanian authorities have not opened an investigation into Russian interference, it would be in Russia’s interest to have pro-Moscow presidents in other EU and NATO countries, said Bucharest-based political consultant Radu Magdin. said.
“This is a critical moment for Russia. They have returned to Bucharest for their recent pro-Western role,” he said.
Romania has provided Ukraine with more than 1 billion euros of military equipment, including critical air defense systems, and hosts a U.S. air base near its Black Sea coast.
If he wins, Georgescu will hold Romania’s most powerful office, overseeing military and foreign relations. He will have the right to nominate the prime minister and hold coalition talks.
The result marks a stinging defeat for centrist candidates, two of whom have served as prime minister in recent years and have accused each other of corruption, mismanagement and underhand operations, with Mr Georgescu a radical He was able to appeal to voters as an anti-establishment candidate.
Georgescu performed very well among Romanians abroad, receiving 43% of the vote. He also took first place in one-third of Romania’s 41 counties.
Georgescu is independent, but the AUR quickly endorsed him in the run-off, seeking to capitalize on his popularity ahead of the Dec. 1 parliamentary elections. It also supported SOS, another far-right party that split from AUR. he.
“People are saying this is a way to hack a democracy,” said Kostin Ciobanu of Denmark’s Aarhus University. “A few weeks ago everyone was looking at Moldova…but this is a country of 20 million people.”
Additional reporting by Andy Bounds in Brussels
