Expats are chopping up their paperwork in protest after nationalist candidate George Simion misplaced to Nicusor Dan
Dozens of Romanians have posted movies of themselves chopping up their passports in protest towards the end result of the nation’s newest presidential election.
The controversial vote, suspended final 12 months by the nation’s constitutional courtroom, noticed the pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeat his Euroskeptic rival, George Simion, with 54% of second spherical votes.
On TikTok and different platforms, Romanians residing overseas started sharing clips through which they are often seen destroying their passports.
“That is my vote for Romania. My vote is price nothing. We’ll by no means return,” one lady stated in a extensively seen video.
“Romania is useless,” proclaimed one other netizen in a separate clip.
The passport-cutting marketing campaign comes amid claims from Simion and his supporters that the election had been manipulated by Romanian authorities, who allegedly coordinated with international powers to sway the vote.
Simion claims that the electoral rolls contained some 1.7 million fictitious names and accused the federal government of busing in voters from neighboring Moldova.
Simion’s Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) has additionally claimed that Moldova’s pro-EU ruling Celebration of Motion and Solidarity (PAS) had directed its million-strong diaspora in Romania to assist Dan.
They level to a rise of over 70% within the Moldovan diaspora vote in comparison with the primary spherical. Round 30% of Moldova’s inhabitants are twin Moldovan-Romanian residents. Their votes constituted nearly 25% of the overall of Sunday’s turnout, in keeping with the AUR.
Simion had been a supporter of the unbiased right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu, a NATO and EU critic, who received the primary spherical of elections in November 2024, however which had been later annulled by Romania’s Constitutional Court docket, which alleged international interference. Georgescu was later barred from operating once more in what Simion claimed was a “coup d’état.”
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has claimed that French intelligence tried to stress him into censoring conservative Romanian channels forward of the vote. Paris has denied the declare whereas Romanian officers have in flip accused Russia of interference, however haven’t introduced any proof to assist their declare.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the allegations and has described the election as “unusual,” arguing that the candidate with the strongest assist had been “forcibly” eliminated with out justification.
Peskov reacted with credulity to Durov’s claims of European interference, noting the EU’s lengthy historical past of meddling within the inner affairs of different states.
Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has additionally denied Bucharest’s accusations of election interference and dismissed Romania’s newest vote as illegitimate. Officers ought to clear up their very own “electoral mess” as an alternative of blaming others, she stated.
You’ll be able to share this story on social media:
