President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” crusade, George Simion, claimed the number-one position in Romania’s presidential election following a landslide win in a re-run of the election that was mandated by court. His populist agenda and hard-right platform have brought a disruptive shock to Romanian politics and challenged Romania’s future orientation within the European Union and NATO.
Simion, 38, is the head of the ultranationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which swept into mass popularity riding a tidal wave of anti-establishment resentment. He is now set to run a runoff on May 18 against an anti-Western reformer, a race that could turn dramatically in the EU member’s political existence.
How Did He Get Here?
Simion’s rise comes in the wake of Romania’s constitutional court annulling the result of last year’s presidential poll on claims of electoral irregularities and Moscow-aided Russian interference—the latter charge Moscow is rejecting. The last election had seen another far-right third-party candidate, Calin Georgescu, lead the first round only to be disqualified. Simion, who was the fourth-placed candidate in that election and later a Georgescu supporter, now is benefiting from a second chance.
“For 35 years, Romanians have lived with the illusion that we’re a true democracy,” Simion told The Associated Press. “Now, people are waking up.”
Who Is George Simion?
Born in 1986 in the eastern Romanian city of Focșani, Simion studied business in Bucharest and went on to complete a master’s degree in Iasi with an emphasis on communist-era crimes. He was politicized at an early age with civic activism, such as demonstrations against a fiercely polarizing Canadian mining project and reunification campaigns with the neighboring Moldova. He was also active in Romania’s soccer “ultras” culture.
Simion founded AUR in 2019, a party that has rallied around old-school values—family, nation, faith, and freedom—and swiftly grew to be the parliament’s second-largest force after the 2020 elections.
He doesn’t hesitate to express his admiration of Donald Trump and told AP that AUR is “perfectly aligned with the MAGA movement.” His party is against same-sex marriage and is strongly connected with the influential Romanian Orthodox Church.
What Does He Stand For?
Simion campaigns on a fiercely anti-establishment, nationalist platform. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his party have opposed lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations, organizing well-supported protests. He regularly condemns Romania’s political order, calling it a “hybrid regime” that has failed to live up to the principles of democracy since the fall of communism in 1989.
He described last year’s annulled election as a “coup d’état” and adopted more hardline rhetoric and religious messaging to win over Georgescu’s former supporters. “People voted for change, and that change was denied,” he said.
Simion’s belligerent style has drawn attention. In March, at a protest, he said that the people who disqualified Georgescu ought to be “skinned in a public square” and that prompted prosecutors to launch a criminal probe for inciting violence. Simion later clarified it was a political figure of speech.
Where Does He Stand on the EU and NATO?
Simion is routinely referred to as pro-Russian by opponents, though he denies it. He claims these allegations are a part of a “leftist smear campaign” and reiterates that Russia has been Romania’s greatest geopolitical threat for two centuries.
“We need a robust NATO presence—in Romania, Poland, and the Baltics,” he said. Nevertheless, he is against boosting military assistance to Ukraine.
Regarding the EU, Simion favors more authority for member states individually to have more influence and less for Brussels. Politically, he aligns with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is an ally that favors a nationalist future for Europe and was the sole EU head to show up at Trump’s 2025 inauguration.
What Do Critics Say?
Romanian member of the European Parliament Siegfried Mureșan said Simion’s potential presidency would be a serious threat: “He’s not a conservative. He’s an anti-European extremist. His election would put Romania in danger, threaten European stability, and give a strategic victory to Russia.”
Political scientist Claudiu Tufiș of the University of Bucharest is more restrained in his judgment, arguing that such comparisons with extremism or pro-Russian positions are overstated. He sees Simion as more aligned with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has clashed with EU leaders on national sovereignty and democratic standards.
Yet Tufiș also faults Simion’s values, particularly his passionate anti-LGBTQ views and what Simion mocks as “identity politics.” He also warns that Simion and his faction are not qualified to handle serious international issues.
“When it comes to handling geopolitical issues, they’re completely unqualified,” Tufiș said.
What’s Next?
The May 18 runoff will determine whether Romania leans toward nationalist-populist governance or remains on its current pro-European trajectory.
