Independent politician Calin Georgescu has pulled ahead in the Romanian electoral race as a staunch opponent of arming Kiev
Nationalist politician Calin Georgescu, considered the frontrunner in the presidential race in Romania, has promised he would end all aid towards the Ukraine conflict, and would put the Romanian people first.
The candidate clinched a surprise win in the first round of the Romanian elections in November with 22.94% of the ballots, beating out liberal leftist candidate Elena Lasconi, who got 19.18%. The two will face each other in a runoff on Sunday.
Georgescu, a highly religious nationalist independent candidate, campaigned on curtailing Romania’s reliance on imports, boosting domestic production and criticizing Bucharest’s role in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
He promised to end all military and political help to Kiev, if he is elected in the runoff, speaking to the BBC on Thursday.
“I have to take care of my people. I don’t want to involve my people,” Georgescu said when asked if he would support Ukraine as long as it takes for it to win. He would curtail all aid, the former soil scientist replied.
“Zero. Everything stops. I have to take care just about my people. We have a lot of problems ourselves.”
The BBC noted that Georgescu praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President-elect Donald Trump, who was reelected last month on similar promises of cutting down spending on Ukraine and focusing on domestic problems. While Georgescu praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “patriot and a leader,” the Romanian frontrunner noted that he is “not a fan.”
Georgescu dismissed recent allegations of foreign collusion in his campaign, saying that his detractors “can’t accept that the Romanian people finally said, ‘we want our life back’.”
The accusations state that the independent politician’s popularity was helped by “state actor” meddling in his mostly Tik-Tok based campaign, getting his message out to the voters.
Tik-Tok stated that claims that Georgescu’s social media account was given preferential treatment are “categorically false.”
The Kremlin has denied Romanian accusations of alleged Russian interference, slamming them as emblematic of a “basic trend” in the West.
Should the candidate win on Sunday, it would herald a notable change in Bucharest’s position on supporting Kiev. Romania has provided Ukraine with more than €1.1 billion ($1.18 billion) in mostly military aid, including a costly US-produced Patriot air defense system, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute.
