Romanian pesidential front-runner George Simion slams Macron for “dictatorial tendencies”

Romanian nationalist candidate George Simion sharply criticised French President Emmanuel Macron on May 15, just days before the final round of Romania’s repeated presidential election.

“I love France and the French people, but I don’t like Emmanuel Macron’s dictatorial tendencies,” Simion said in an interview with French TV channel CNews, conducted partly in French and partly in Romanian, Caliber.Az reports, citing POLITICO.

“I don’t respect Emmanuel Macron’s intervention in our democracy,” he added.

Simion accused the French ambassador to Romania of interfering in Romanian politics. “The French ambassador to Romania discussed [the elections] with the president of the Constitutional Court that annulled the [2024] elections in Romania,” referring to the court’s December decision to invalidate the vote amid concerns about Russian interference and order a new election.

He further claimed, “The French ambassador has gone … through all regions of the country to convince businessmen to support my opponent, the mayor of Bucharest.”

Later in the interview, Simion made a controversial comparison, saying France had become like Iran: “It’s a country where the ayatollahs decide who can run.” He also criticised what he described as France’s loss of faith, stating, “France has lost its relationship with God.”

“You don’t know who you are anymore,” he said of France. “It’s time to go back to tradition and stop mutilating your children with sex reassignment surgeries. You hurt yourself. France — as a European, Christian country — will no longer exist.”

Simion, 38, leads the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party and is currently ahead in the presidential race. He opposes military aid to Ukraine and supports unification with Moldova.

His opponent in Sunday’s runoff is Nicușor Dan, 55, a centrist mathematician and the independent mayor of Bucharest since 2020, who advocates a pro-European, pro-Western path and tougher measures against Russia.

In the first round, Simion secured 41 per cent of the vote compared to Dan’s 21 per cent. Recent polls show the race tightening, with POLITICO’s Poll of Polls putting Simion at 49 per cent and Dan at 46 per cent ahead of the runoff.

“We are basically winning,” Simion told POLITICO during a visit to Brussels on May 15. “The only thing we need is fair and free elections. … I think it will be a landslide.”

By Tamilla Hasanova