In elections of great importance not only for the country, but also for the security scaffolding built by the EU and NATO on the Eastern flank, Romanians are voting this Sunday on the composition of their parliament. And they do so in the midst of intense instability, with the elections under suspicion and the first round at risk of annulment.
It is in that first round where an unknown before the elections, Calin Georgescu, It became a more than likely option for escalating to power without a party behind it, nor prior support or budget, just a strange and unprecedented campaign developed by TikTok based on ultra, europhobic and anti-Atlantic Alliance messages, and with a strong aroma of Kremlin propaganda.
The Romanian elections are held after a electoral process in Moldova with numerous accusations of vote buying by Russian agents, and in the midst of a growing instability in Georgiawith the country’s presidency accusing the Executive of being illegitimate. The temperature is rising rapidly in eastern Europe.
Spain has a military presence in the country within the framework of the deterrence and surveillance effort of the Atlantic Alliance against Russia. It has recently been deployed 200 marines of the Tercio de Armada and 40 VAMTAC combat vehicles in a tactical subgroup. In addition, the Air Force has installed in Romanian territory an air defense radar with 40 soldiers, and leads with a squad of cazas eurofighter the Paznic air police detachment.
Don’t fall into chaos
He Romanian Prime Minister, Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacuhas encouraged his compatriots this Sunday to vote in the parliamentary elections with their eyes focused on Europe and NATO so as not to fall into “chaos”, after the success of the ultra-nationalist and Eurosceptic proposals in the presidential elections.
“I voted for Romania to remain in the Schengen area, in the European Union and in NATO. I believe that today Romanians can choose between stability and chaos“Ciolacu said this Sunday after exercising his right to vote.
“I think today is a very important day for all of us Romanians to continue our journey through Europe and the North Atlantic. It is the most important thing we have to choose today,” he expressed as he left his polling station in Buzau.
Along these lines, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohanniswho, after voting in Bucharest, celebrated that in previous elections, Romanians had voted for the “Euro-Atlantic path.”
“We are well integrated in the European Union, we are well positioned and we are very respected in NATO. But for it to continue like this, we have to vote that way. In conclusion, please vote. I voted for a European Romania,” he said. .
For its part, the presidential candidate, Elena Lasconisaid to vote for the freedom of Romania. “We will not kneel, we will continue to be free, we will think freely,” said the conservative leader, reports the newspaper ‘Adevarul’.
Rise of the far right
On the other hand, his rival in the second round of the elections, Calin Georgescu, has chosen not to answer questions from the press. “You have all the answers,” he said, visibly upset. “I have seen that they are very angry with me for not answering questions. Yes, I do not accept questions and I will not do so now (…) Once this is over, I want to tell you that I want to be a president who puts his people, his country, first. That is not negotiated,” Georgescu said.
Romanians vote this Sunday in parliamentary elections marked by possible annulment of the results of the first round of last week’s presidential elections, as well as the rise of the extreme right after the surprising victory in those elections of Calin Georgescu, a nationalist candidate considered pro-Russian and whose campaign has been questioned for lack of transparency.
In these elections the Social Democratic Party (PSD) does not start as a favoriteaccording to surveys, which place it as the second most voted force, with 21.4 percent of support; although not far from the first, the eurosceptic and conservative Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), which would obtain 22.4 percent.
