George Simion Cleared to Contest Romanian Presidential Election

Leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians to run following the disqualification of ultranationalist Călin Georgescu.

George Simion, the leader of Romania's far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), has been officially approved to participate in the forthcoming presidential election scheduled for May. The announcement was made by Romania's electoral bureau, confirming Simion's candidacy after he initially withdrew in support of Călin Georgescu, who has since been barred from the contest.

Simion's decision comes after Romania's Constitutional Court confirmed Georgescu's exclusion from the ballot due to concerns surrounding foreign interference, specifically alleging that Russian influence may have affected the electoral process.

The first round of voting held in November concluded with Georgescu as an unexpected winner, but the results were annulled amid these allegations of “aggressive hybrid action” aimed at manipulating the vote.

In a joint announcement, Simion and Anamaria Gavrilă, the leader of another far-right entity, the Party of Young People, declared their intent to run in defense of what they refer to as the “sovereignist movement.” They indicated that should both candidates be cleared to participate, one of them would consider withdrawal to consolidate support.

Of note, the electoral bureau also dismissed the candidacy of Diana Șoșoacă, a member of the European Parliament and leader of the ultranationalist party S.O.S Romania, who has announced plans to appeal the decision.

Candidates aiming to enter the presidential race are required to collect a minimum of 200,000 signatures.

Simion reported that he had successfully gathered 604,000 signatures, expressing confidence that Gavrilă would also achieve a significant figure.

In the previous round of elections, Simion ranked fourth, following Georgescu, liberal candidate Elena Lasconi, and the center-left Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.