Former Romanian official: “We must offer Romanians a pro-European president”
Despite the aggressive Russian hybrid actions that targeted Romania during the canceled presidential elections, the authorities are under pressure to annihilate them. Former Minister Răzvan Cotovelea said in the show IN CONTEXT that “it is mandatory” for Romania to have a solid political coalition and a pro-European and pro-NATO president, who would guarantee the continuation of this path.
“If we look at what the prosecutors say, the situation could become extremely dangerous. To have lists of politicians from democratic parties – from the left, right or center – who need to be threatened, and journalists who need to be silenced… We are not talking about a democracy here. This is something that happens in states like Belarus and others that behave in this way. Călin Georgescu was in ninth place in the world in the pre-campaign popularity on TikTok. Such a campaign cost millions of euros. Georgescu could not declare zero expenses. It is clear that these are dirty things.”
The expert anticipates the formation of a coalition and a pro-Western candidate for the position of head of state. “It would be ideal to see a coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union. We must also invite the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania to this national coalition government. Also, the political leaders will decide who will be the prime minister, and the decision will respect the Constitution, to be presented to the president. There will probably be a heated discussion, regardless of the final decision: either there will be one candidate or two, but this pro-European coalition must exist. And to explain to the Romanian people why this direction must be continued.”
Răzvan Cotovelea believes that Romania must maintain its foreign policy vector. “Of course, Parliament is important, constitutionally speaking, the president does not hold all the power in Romania, but it is also about representation. We have had many presidents who have worked for the good of Romania, and we owe it to them to continue to offer Romanians a pro-European, pro-NATO president who will maintain this path.”
We remind you that on Friday, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the presidential elections following a large number of new requests that the campaign of candidate Călin Georgescu was the result of orchestrated manipulation from outside the country. On Saturday, searches were carried out in several cities in Romania in connection with the alleged financing of the online campaign of independent candidate Călin Georgescu. The investigations targeted crimes related to voter corruption, money laundering, computer fraud, as well as the prohibition of organizations and symbols of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature. The electoral processes, as well as the political class in Romania, will be relaunched, given the foreign interference and the protest vote coming from the citizens, which indicates that the Romanian society needs new leaders, says the Romanian expert in international relations, Dorin Popescu.
Although the mandate of the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis expires on December 21, the Romanian head of state announced, in a press statement at the Cotroceni Palace, that he will remain in office until the new president is elected, and in the meantime the new Parliament will be constituted and the new Government will be appointed.
The cancellation of the presidential elections in Romania generated several international reactions. The United States of America stated that it “reaffirms its trust in the democratic institutions and processes in Romania”. Also, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, declared in a post on X, that “the Romanian people are the ones who must decide what is best for their country, without foreign interference”.
