Sarah Rainesford
Eastern Europe correspondent
Frompoeni, report on Romaniabbc/Sarah Rainsford
Nationalist George Simion votes heavily in Romania ahead of the election
Poni, a Romanian village, has several shops, kebab grills and packs of stray dogs.
There are also quite a few voters who wanted far-right candidates to become president.
Poni, a little over an hour’s drive from the capital, is not alone.
Last November, Karin Georgek, who praised Vladimir Putin and is not a fan of NATO, came from the extremist Fringe and won the first round of Romania’s presidential election with 23% of the vote.
At Phoni, it was even better at 24%.
The Constitutional Court then scrapped the entire election in an unprecedented move, citing intelligence that Georgek’s online campaign was boosted by Russia.
In Phoni, young voters get mad at cancelled votes and call those claims “lies.” “They should have run to see what would happen to him,” Maria insists.
A new vote will be held in May, but Georgescu is prohibited from participating.
In Bucharest, supporters who took him to the streets cried out that the judge was destroying democracy. Only a handful of people have briefly clashed with police using tear gas.
Now, nationalist politician George Simion has stepped into the race and is voting heavily in his place.
Many Romanians fear the core European values of their country and their global alliances, but are still at risk.
“We’re in the middle of a battle of ideas. There’s no choice here,” says the way a democratic activist explains his mood. “The battle is now.”
“They fooled us. They promised us more.”
In the village of Poni, there is less talk about value and Russian interference, and there is more about pocket money. Rather, the lack of that.
Beside the main road, where the trucks, horses and carts alternate, men chat with kebabs and pensioners on dusty benches.
The metal public telephone box has a stretch of shape, and its sign has probably hanging for years.
BBC/Sarah Rainsford
Higher prices and low income have disillusioned voters like Ionella
Earnings here are small, prices rise, life is tough like many in Romania.
“I want Georgek to straighten everyone. They fooled us. They promised us more pension money,” the middle-aged woman speaks quietly at first, then bolder. “The others did nothing here for us!”
In the village shop, Ionella is just as disillusioned.
“Young people graduate from college here and can’t get a job, so they go abroad. That’s not normal. Our young people need to have a place to work here,” she complains from behind the counter in the store.
Millions of Romanians work elsewhere in the EU and send money to their families home. In Phoni, you can see where some of them go in half a new home.
The whole family of Ionella voted for Georgek. He has promised to cut taxes, she believes, but it appears she has not registered his far-right ideology.
The man who praises extremists from his Romanian past is currently under investigation due to suspected links to groups with “fascist, racist or xenophobia traits.”
Appearing after the question, the politician was filmed and given a fascist-style salute.
Getty Images
Calin Georgescu is under investigation due to suspected links to fascist groups
Other villagers in Poni saw it and knew everything about the dark characters Georgek linked to.
Hearing his name, one pensioner grabbed her crutch and wielded it like a machine gun, screaming that he was dangerous.
Another told me that people are prominently rising from anywhere, and doubting someone who focuses on sovereignty over economic sense.
“He says we don’t need Europe to help us with money. So how are we going to live? Let’s face it: Europe feeds us!” she says.
“A thin doubt”
Romanian votes have become the topic of stories that speak far beyond the city of Poni or Bucharest.
When US Vice President JD Vance shocked Europe with his speech in Munich, he cited Romania several times when he argued that the biggest threat of the EU came from within, not from Russia.
He declared that the country’s election was cancelled under “a thin doubt” under “huge pressure” from the EU. Elon Musk then denounced the court’s move as “crazy” for X.
Moscow would have enjoyed it.
BBC/Sarah Rainsford
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have a large loom in these elections
Russia’s external intelligence agency has fully agreed with the US that the “liberal mainstream” of Europe had been curbing objections.
This is from the authoritarian regime.
“It’s the new world we live in. It’s the ideology of Maga. They try to find a partner, and that partner is a far-right party in all Europe,” journalist Aeon Ionita sees cooperation between the US and Russia.
For him, invalidating the presidential election was not only a constitution but it was justified.
“We live through hybrid wars. Democracy is under pressure,” he argues. The threat is real.
However, Romania, which is adjacent to Ukraine and hosts a large NATO base, still has to deal with our hostility.
“It’s a dramatic change. America is our side, our biggest, and our most important security provider for Romania,” pointed out Aeon Ionis. “This partnership needs to be stronger and stronger.
“People are worried.”
The battle for the soul of Romania
For Florin Buhuceanu, conflicts are not just political, they are personal.
His Bucharest Flat, the gem of modernism, is a mini museum “dedicated to gay memories.”
BBC/Sarah Rainsford
Before Romania legalized homosexuality in 2001, Florin says, “It was absolutely impossible for us to breathe.”
On one wall is a large photo of three gay men arrested since the 1930s. In the next room is a wooden cabinet that once exhibited memorabilia from the Romanian fascist era in an antique shop. This includes a photo of the gay icon.
Romania is only decriminalized homosexual in 2001.
“The State Museum does not make such contributions,” Florin says.
The well-known LGBT activist poses so many threats to the heat of this campaign that security services warn him to be careful.
Even if it disappears quickly, like Georgeuk, the atmosphere is still enthusiastic.
George Simion, now considered a front runner, was investigated after election officials sought to be “living” with Georgek removed from the race.
He describes his nationalist AUR as a “patriotic party of conservative essence” that is “faith, nation, family, freedom.”
The LGBT rights group Mozaiq has warned about a surge in anti-Semitism, racist and homophobic rhetoric in recent weeks. Police had to be warned after social media messages prompted an attack on the office.
So Florin Bouchianu fears that his country has been cast in the past.
“Before 2001, it was absolutely impossible for us to breathe. Now we hear the same rhetoric over and over again,” he says.
Worse, it coincides with the US, Russia and so far.
“It’s clear that our rights are vulnerable and the world is being reorganized, so we must continue this fight,” the activist warns. “It’s not just for our community, it’s for the soul of Romanian democracy.”
