Romanian nationalist candidate George Simion, on a visit to Paris on Friday, accused French President Emmanuel Macron of interference in his country's tense presidential election rerun.
Romanian nationalist candidate George Simion spent the last day of his election campaign in Paris. During a joint press conference with French far right leader Marion Maréchal, broadcast live on his Facebook page, he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of 'interference' in his country's tense presidential election rerun.
Anti-immigrant Simion, who wants to downscale Romania's ties with the EU and NATO, is head of Romania's far-right AUR party. He faces pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan in a runoff on Sunday.
The vote is expected to be a tight battle that will be closely watched by Brussels, other European capitals, as well as Moscow and Washington.
Romania's constitutional court in a shock move last year cancelled the elections after a previously little-known far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, topped the first round.
The cancellation, rare in the EU, came after allegations of Russian meddling and a massive social media promotion of Georgescu, who was barred from this month's rerun.
Romania's top court annuls presidential vote amid Russia interference fears
Romania's far right has accused Paris and Brussels of being behind the annulment, which Simion has called a "coup d'etat".
Diaspora
"My message is very clear: 'Back off!' It is not your job... to get involved with the free sovereign will of the Romanian people," Simion said.
He accused Macron of "dictatorial tendencies" and compared France to Iran.
"You are not an emperor, you are not loved even by the French people, so these attacks... are not what we should do in a united Europe, in the future European Union," he said.
Simion's visit to France was aimed at drumming up support among Romanian diaspora voters who could start voting earlier this week.
The visit to France follows a stopover to Italy, home to over 1 million Romanians, where he met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. France is home to some 133,000 Romanians.
Diaspora Romanians overwhelmingly voted for the far-right candidate during the -cancelled- elections late 2024 and again during the first round of the current elections.
According to Christian Preda, a political science professor with Bucharest University, it came as a "big surprise" when the Romanian Diaspora "sent a clear message in favour of these far-right politicians."
"This is a paradox," he told RFI. "If you vote in favour of a political position saying that Romanians do not have the right to come to [another EU country] on the basis of European treaties, you will destroy your life."
"I don't think that in the end, people voting like that now will be very happy with that, because for Romanians, Europe represented an enormous opportunity. Without a European Romania, Romanians working in Italy or in Spain will never have the opportunities they have now. Voting now against this status is really unreasonable," he said.
