Euronews’ Bucharest correspondent Andra Diaconescu interviewed nationalist Romanian presidential hopeful George Simion, who praised Viktor Orbán and called the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (RMDSZ) in Romania a partner.
The 38-year-old pro-Trump politician came first in Sunday’s repeat first round of the presidential election with 40.5% of the vote. The vote had to be re-run because the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the election last December on the grounds of foreign interference and disqualified Calin Georgescu, who became known for his TikTok videos, from the race.
Simion gave an interview to Euronews Romania after Sunday’s first round, where our correspondent asked him how he will work with Viktor Orbán and what he has to say to Hungarians in Transylvania after they voted unanimously against Simion.
“The Hungarian community had its own candidate. So they did not vote against me. They voted for their candidate,” Simion replied.
The Euronews reporter reminded Simion that he had won almost everywhere except in the areas with a large Hungarian population.
“Hungarians, the RMDSZ party, are a very serious political partner. The only serious party among the governing parties in Bucharest that has a professional leadership. I would like to congratulate them and in many aspects, I would like to follow in the footsteps of Viktor Orbán,” Simion replied.
Simion went on to praise Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a popular politician among the Hungarian-speaking voters in Romania.
“Of course, there are red lines, and our positions differ on some issues. But Viktor Orbán has shown that he has fought for families, for population preservation, and for Christianity in the EU institutions. So both Fidesz (the governing party in Hungary) and the RMDSZ will be our partners,” he said.
RMDSZ urges Hungarians to stop Simion
However, the feelings between Hungarians in Romania and Simion do not appear to be mutual. Despite Simion’s claim, the RMDSZ did not have an official candidate in the run-off, but explicitly urged voters to stop the far-right candidate, backing Crin Antonescu of the governing party. After the election, party president Hunor Kelemen thanked Hungarians for voting by more than 70% for the moderate candidate.
“We understood the danger, because we know what is at stake with a president who is not Hungarian and a government with anti-Hungarians,” Hunor Kelemen said.
The RMDSZ president called on Hungarians to vote against Simion, who they consider to be anti-Hungarian.
“If Simion becomes president and the AUR is in government, our schools, our rights and our language use will be in danger,” Hunor Kelemen warned.
Hungarian government avers neutrality in Romanian election
Romania has an ethnic Hungarian population of more than one million people, mostly located in the Transylvania region, among whom Viktor Orbán is very popular. The local ethnic Hungarian party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (RMDSZ), also has several ties to the governing party in Hungary, Fidesz. Among them, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is highly popular. The local ethnic Hungarian party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (RMDSZ), also has several ties to the governing party in Hungary, Fidesz.
Viktor Orbán’s government gave a muted reaction to Simion’s success, despite having similar views over Trump, Ukraine and the European Union. The cabinet minister of the government, Gergely Gulyás told reporters the Hungarian government need not take sides in the Romanian presidential election campaign. Hungary will be ready to talk to any elected Romanian president about minority rights, Gulyás said.
Fidesz politicians have described Simion as anti-Hungarian, however, and in 2024, Fidesz pulled out from negotiations to join the Eurosceptic ECR group in the European Parliament after Simion’s AUR party was admitted.
“Fidesz will never share a group with such a party in the European Parliament. It’**s not negotiable,” Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis said in June 2024. Later, the spokesperson of the Hungarian government Zoltán Kovács called AUR anti-Hungarian.
In the Euronews interview, Simion spoke out in favour of Romania’s membership of the EU and NATO, but said the EU was currently overstretching its powers and should instead create a Europe of nations.
