For many Romanians, the name Calin Georgescu did not mean much until Sunday afternoon, when the results of the exit polls for the first round of the presidential election were announced. The independent candidate who had just won the majority is a gray former member of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, who has become known in this campaign for his speeches of angry patriotism and in favor of the church and the family. Georgescu has had legal problems for his inclination towards Russia and the praise of historical figures of anti-Semitic fascism such as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and the author of the ‘Romanian Holocaust’, Ion Antonescu, whom he has called “heroes.” When he talks about the murder of the monarchist leader Nicolae Iorga, he denounces that “history is manipulated” and the prosecutor’s office has gone so far as to open a criminal case against him for those statements, although it is not clear at what stage that investigation is currently in. Precisely, it was as a result of that scandal when the AUR withdrew its candidacy for the position of prime minister. Georgescu then decided to run for president on his own. Suspicions of connections with the Kremlin weigh on him. In the television debate broadcast during the election campaign by Digi24, he was asked for a specific answer, yes or no, as to whether he is an admirer of Vladimir Putin. Georgescu rejected a clear answer and complained that he is asked that question too often. In a video posted on YouTube four years ago, he was much more explicit, referring to Putin as “a leader, among the few leaders.” Georgescu avoids the connection with Moscow as much as possible and prefers to talk about his specialty, international relations and sustainable development. His speech has been off the radar of sociology institutes, the media and mainstream politics. Only the Austrian historian Oliver Jens Schmitt had warned in 2022, in an interview with Spotmedia, about this strange political figure, supported by his opinion in “neo-legionary” circles and “charismatic to the extent that he appeals to the nationalist vein.” “Underestimated by public opinion, but very present in provincial circles, is the self-proclaimed leader of the Ancestral Land Movement, Calin Georgescu,” he noted then. In his analysis, he highlighted that »it is staged with clear neo-legionary language; He even imitates Codreanu’s slow way of speaking and his movement clearly uses neo-legionary symbolism such as the color green and is distinguished by legionary strategies, such as labor camps. Schmitt was referring to the Legion of Saint Michael the Archangel, the fascist, ultranationalist, clericalist and anti-Semitic movement that became a paramilitary group in 1931, and also warned that Georgescu has the support of well-known representatives of the nationalist camp, including the vice president of the Academy. Romanian, Victor Voicu .Related News standard Yes Putin’s Trojan horses in the EU enter parliaments and governments Rosalía Sánchez | Correspondent in BerlinUnlike the Romanian right, led by George Nicolae Simion, president of the AUR who unexpectedly achieved a high result in the 2020 legislative elections, Georgescu presents himself as a politician “guided by God for the greatness of Romania.” Also unlike Simion and the rest of the candidates, Georgescu has stayed away from the media spotlight during the campaign and has avoided electoral posters to focus on TikTok and Facebook. Especially on TikTok, their campaign has been massive. People unknown to ordinary Romanians, but with hundreds of thousands or even more than a million followers, began to spread messages that directly or indirectly promoted Calin Georgescu. Women dancing lasciviously in front of the camera and rag pickers have joined Georgescu on these networks and asked to vote for him until, on November 21, the Central Electoral Commission (BEC) banned all this content on the internet supporting his candidacy. The measure came too late and also gave him the opportunity to present himself as a victim. Most of his professional career has taken place in the international arena. Born in 1962 in Bucharest, he graduated from the Institute of Agronomy and specialized in the study of soils. Before the 1989 revolution that overthrew dictator Ceaucescu, he worked as an agronomist at a company in Fagaras, Brasov County. In 1991 he rose to head of the Senate Environment Office in Parliament and, a year later, became an advisor to the head of that ministry, Marcian Bleahu, in a government of technocrats. He then worked for 17 years at the UN, in the field of environmental conservation. As an associate professor at the University of Pitesti, he presents himself as an expert in sustainable development. In 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2020 he was proposed by Romanian Civil Society, a party that congratulated Russia for the annexation of Crimea, for the position of prime minister, reaping a series of failures. Until now.
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