Romanian presidential candidate calls for protests without Ukraine-style ‘bloodbath'
Romanian presidential candidate George Simion has called on supporters to engage in peaceful protest against what he claims was a fraudulent election, warning that the country narrowly avoided a 'bloodbath' caused by 'demonic plans' allegedly orchestrated by his Western-backed political opponents.
The conservative EU critic lost a run-off vote last Sunday to pro-Brussels Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by a single-digit margin. Simion has contested the outcome, alleging 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' but Romania's Constitutional Court rejected his petition.
In a video message to supporters streamed on social media Friday night, the leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) described Dan as a 'puppet of France' who won the election through manipulation and fearmongering after 'mobilizing the entire Soros network, all the NGOs' to undermine his campaign.
'This fight is not lost,' Simion told supporters, claiming that 'the right of Romanians to take to the streets' must be exercised – while stressing that any demonstrations must remain peaceful.
'Make it peaceful. I will say this every time, because they want to put us in prison,' he said, alleging that his political opponents were attempting to provoke violence in order to justify a crackdown on the opposition.
'That's what they wanted on election night,' he said, claiming that the opposing camp planned to manipulate his supporters into a 'bloodbath' akin to Ukraine's 2014 coup – and allegedly had 'some people who participated in the Euromaidan in Kiev.'
They had the crowd prepared – to have Romanians turn against each other again and for a civil war to erupt in Romania.
'Bloodbath. This was bound to happen. We were supposed to take to the streets… And I am glad about the decision made to avoid bloodshed. We were one step away from the country being torn apart due to the demonic plans they had,' he added.
Simion said he has stayed away from protests and would continue to do so to avoid escalating tensions, but urged supporters to 'fight in the name of truth, democracy, freedom, peace, and in the name of God.'
'We are not getting anywhere. I advise you to join the AUR party or another sovereignist party, to participate with organizations, unions, your civic groups to hold protests, get involved, take to the streets, and demonstrate. Fight for Romania, because they are truly afraid of us,' he said.
The contested election followed the annulment of the previous vote, in which independent candidate Calin Georgescu led the first round with 23% of the vote. Romania's Constitutional Court overturned the results, citing electoral irregularities and allegations of foreign interference – including claims of Russian involvement, which Moscow has denied.
The Kremlin described Romania's election as 'strange, at the very least,' noting that the declared winner did not secure victory until the second attempt, after the frontrunner was disqualified. Telegram founder Pavel Durov claimed on Sunday that Nicolas Lerner, the head of French foreign intelligence, personally urged him to censor conservative voices on the platform ahead of the election.
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