Georgescu, who has called Nato’s ballistic missile defence shield a ‘shame of diplomacy’, will likely head into a run-off with leftist prime minister Marcel Ciolacu

Summary

Far-right populist Calin Georgescu led Romania’s presidential election with 22% of the vote, narrowly ahead of leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (21%), setting up a runoff on December 8.

Georgescu’s unexpected rise, driven by anti-establishment sentiment, has disrupted the political landscape.

His vague populist platform includes boosting local production and criticizing NATO. Analysts suggest his surge reflects voter dissatisfaction, with some suspecting potential Russian influence.

The election, marked by moderate turnout (52.4%), occurs amid economic challenges, high inflation, and tensions from Romania’s proximity to Ukraine’s war zone.

  • Skates@feddit.nlEnglish
    52·
    17 days ago

    So a country’s internal politics don’t matter unless they fall to Russia - that’s what you said, right?

    But wouldn’t you agree that the country’s internal politics are what decides if it falls to Russia or not? If education is not a subject they invest in, if its population isn’t happy with the status quo, if they exhibit corruption, if their healthcare system is so bad that the middle class emigrates and leaves behind only the oligarchs and the poor, if their justice system doesn’t work and they don’t feel safe… All these internal politics have a huge impact on if a country can be influenced by Russia or any other nefarious agent.

    I don’t get what you’re saying. You keep saying “yeah but we don’t care about X”, while X seems to be the direct cause of some of your problems that you DO care about. Are you trying to say Romania should take care of its shit internally so we don’t have to deal with it, and not let it grow to the point where it’s a problem for the rest of the EU?

    • leisesprecher@feddit.orgEnglish
      23·
      17 days ago

      You’re conflating a bunch of things here.

      What exactly am I supposed to do about internal Romanian politics? Impose a medical Securitate to protect everyone’s health? Invade directly? That’s a tad arrogant, isn’t it?

      Internal politics only become relevant for people on the outside, if they affect the international politics. And even then, what is the outside supposed to do? They can only react. And realistically, you can’t expect people to know enough of the internal politics of every country within 10.000km to be able to have an opinion on it.