Former advisor to the Romanian president advised Ukraine not to worry about the Romanian elections
Ukraine should not worry about the possible election of far-right Gheorghe Simion as president of Romania, as he will be forced to listen to pro-European voters, who are the majority. This opinion was expressed by Iulian Cifu, president of the Center for Conflict Prevention and Early Warning, former advisor to the Romanian President on strategic issues, security and foreign policy, in a comment to a LIGA.net correspondent during the 17th annual Kyiv Security Forum.
As Chifu noted, Simeon's victory in the first round was not a surprise, as polls had shown him to be ahead. But this situation is less worrisome than the victory of pro-Russian Călin Gheorghescu in the first round of the annulled election.
"Simion is not Georgescu, he has a party behind him, he follows the rules of the game and he has his own limitations, which are very important," said Chifu.
The former advisor to the Romanian president emphasized that Simion is a member of Giorgi Maloni's Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists.
"He was supposed to sign an agreement to support Ukraine's entry into this European group and yesterday he actually gave several, I think five, interviews, reiterating that he is pro-European," Kifu said.
Therefore, in his opinion, Ukraine should not worry about the results of the presidential elections.
"Regardless of who is there, we have a 65% majority that is pro-European, and nothing bad will come of it," he said.
Finally, he emphasized that Simeon's victory, despite his high result in the first round, is not guaranteed. After all, there is a large number of voters who are mobilizing for the second round and can radically change the situation.
- The first round of presidential elections was held in Romania in November 2024. The second round, scheduled for December 8 , saw Georgescu (22.95%) and the pro-European Lasconi (19.17%).
- However, in December, Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense declassified secret service documents that, among other things, indicated Russian interference in favor of Georgescu. After that, the results of the first round of elections were annulled and a rerun was scheduled.
- On May 4, 2025, the first round of the new presidential elections in Romania took place: pro-Russian Simion and pro-Ukrainian independent candidate Dan advanced to the second round . The second round of the elections is scheduled for May 18.
- On election day, Simeon declared that if he won, he would give the leadership position to his pro-Russian ally Georgescu .
