The Romanians delivered the keys to the Cotroceni Palace – to the Nicusor Dan Proeuropeo. The mayor of Bucharest, won the ultra -nationalist George Simion on Sunday with 53.6% of the votes (against 46.4% of his opponent), in elections marked by the decision of the Constitutional Court of. But outside Romania, a simion that was not enough to win the presidency. Of the more than 1.63 million citizens who voted abroad, 55.9% opted for simion, against 44.1% they voted for Dan.
The ultra won in most Western European countries. In Germany he won the most comfortable victory (68.3% of the votes), followed by Spain – with 644,473 registered -, where they obtained 68% compared to 32% of Dan. Simion also won in Italy (66.7%), Austria (66%), the United Kingdom (58%) and France (56%). Despite the victory of the Ultra among the voters in the diaspora, the centrist managed to overcome in Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, as well as in Russia, where he obtained 58.6% of the suffrages.
“Many Romanians living in Spain [que han optado por Simion] They have not voted for extremism, or radical ideologies. The goal. They have been seeing how Romania do not advance, with the same politicians, the same problems, and very little renewal, ”says Felix Damian, a journalist and photographer based in Alcalá de Henares since 2002.“ In Spain, many of them have come forward: they have created business, they have formed families, and live in a country that, with their imperfections, works better. And of course, they want the same for their country of origin, ”continues the 46 -year -old communicator, who was surprised by high participation in the diaspora.
“Two very different visions have been faced: a European Romania and one that seems to get away from that path; that has made many people mobilize, even those who normally do not vote,” says Damian, while underlines. “Almost unknown candidates have gained strength only with their presence onlinemany have been manipulated without realizing that they are voting to follow the European course or deviate from that path, ”he says.
“They vote for Simion because they are dissatisfied with the ruling political class, which they consider guilty of abandoning them and because they are unhappy with their status in the diaspora,” says Cristian Pantazi, journalist of G4Media.ro. In addition, he emphasizes that some, also for lack of political education, “did not understand the danger of extremism.” “While some have been manipulated by Russian propaganda through social networks, others have been influenced by religious propaganda in the churches they attend, especially the orthodox and Pentecostal cult,” says Pantazi.
“The Romanians in Spain have always voted in the past to the Liberal National Party, which has a conservative aspect; even when Nicusor Dan’s party appeared (Unión Save Romania), with less traditionalist ideas, he never managed to impose himself,” explains Ciprian Munteanu, project coordinator of a Romanian association in Madrid. “Many have moved more to the right,” argues this resident of Torrejón de Ardoz, 38, who has lived 23 of them in Spain.
“To understand and value a candidate as Dan need civic maturity, critical thinking and a high vision of the common good,” says Oana Mosniagu, director of the editorial Ome Editions. This woman who moved to Spain almost two decades ago, when she was 19 years old, explains that there is “another crowd in Romania: the silent”: “that majority that does not shout, who does not launch slogans. But she has spoken clearly thinking about the future of her country,” says Mosniagu, resident in Móstoles.
