Far-right leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, George Simion, currently running for president of Romania, made the news on Thursday, May 15, when he called his centrist opponent Nicusor Dan autistic. He also made a controversial appearance on a French television channel and was featured by Politico as a danger to EU and NATO unity.

The first scandal started after Simion was asked for comments by a journalist during a visit in Brussels. He refused to talk to the Romanian journalist, and eventually called his opponent autistic. “You have a candidate you support, he’s autistic, the poor guy,” he told the journalist, implying that the press backs Nicusor Dan.

Later, during a meeting with supporters in Belgium the same day, Simion apologized for using the term. The leader of the extremist AUR party said, instead, that he meant to call Dan a “Nazi,” a “Marxist,” a “Sorosist,” or a “securist,” the latter implying that his opponent has connections with the Romanian information and security services.

Backtracks and condemnations

Immediately after apologizing, George Simion made another inappropriate remark by talking about “mentally unstable people who want to legalize drugs on the streets.” Back in 2021, he also called former liberal prime minister Florin Cîțu autistic.

The term started a flurry of condemnations back in Romania. The president of the National Council for Combating Discrimination, Csaba Asztalos, said that George Simion’s statement regarding autism will come to the attention of the institution he leads if a complaint is filed in this regard. Subsequently, a hearing would follow and potentially a fine. 

“I publicly condemn him. I consider this behavior unworthy of a candidate seeking the highest office in the state. Whoever becomes president will take an oath on the Bible and the Constitution and commits to protect and defend the right to dignity of every citizen, as well as civil rights and freedoms. I wonder how someone can do that if they display such behavior,” the CNCD head said, cited by ProTV.

Similarly, the Network of Organizations in Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Social Services expressed their “deep indignation and firmly condemned” Simion’s statements, according to Digi24.

In a public statement, the two organizations noted that “to say someone is ‘autistic, poor guy’ in a context of disdain and irony is not only a serious deviation from the norms of civilized dialogue, but also a blatant form of discrimination, stigmatization of people with autism spectrum disorders, and a violation of their dignity.” They also said that they will notify the CNCD and the European Court of Human Rights. 

Meanwhile, on Friday, May 16, Anamaria Gavrilă, the leader of the extreme far-right party POT and an ally of George Simion, asked Nicușor Dan to publicly declare that “he is not undergoing any specialized medical treatment and that he is willing, if necessary, to submit to an independent medical examination.” She said that “citizens’ trust in a presidential candidate begins with transparency and accountability” to motivate her unusual demand, made public on her Facebook page.

A controversial interview

Also on Thursday, George Simion gave an interview to French television channel CNews, during which he made several inflammatory statements. He said that French president Emmanuel Macron has dictatorial tendencies and compared France to Iran. 

In reply, the host of the show said that Simion is unlikely to be invited to the Élysée Palace by the French president after such statements.

“I must tell you that France is a democracy that does not have dictatorial tendencies. If you already call your counterpart a dictator, that’s ‘promising’ for Romania’s relations with France,” said the French journalist. 

Simion continued undeterred and compared France to Iran, saying that he drew “a parallel with Iran, with the ayatollahs who decide who can run.” Again, the moderator objected, saying Simion is “going too far, we cannot compare France with Iran, I guarantee you,”

The AUR candidate also stated that more and more French cities are dirty and dangerous.

“You’ve lost your connection with God, with your heroes, you no longer know who you are. It’s time to stop mutilating your children with sex change operations,” Simion added, to the moderator’s astonishment. “You insult many French people by talking this way,” one journalist said.

Another journalist told Simion that he pretends to "criticize Putin, but you use exactly Vladimir Putin’s arguments.”

Throughout the interview, George Simion spoke mostly in Romanian, but at times responded in approximate French.

A populist for Romania

George Simion was also the subject of a feature published by Politico on Thursday, May 15. In it, authors Max Griera, Nicholas Vinocur, and Csongor Koromi said that the candidate is “seeking to scupper aid to Ukraine just as the EU wants to dial up pressure on Russia to end the war” by using Romania’s geostrategic power. 

While Romania has been a “rock-solid stalwart of the EU and NATO” so far, according to Politico, that might soon change, as Simion aims to stop the EU from imposing a “globalist order.” Drawing on Meloni and Orban, he adamantly denies pro-Russian beliefs, but is nonetheless banned from entering Ukraine for promoting a “unionist ideology that denies the legitimacy of the state border of Ukraine.” Importantly, he is also closely allied with pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu.

“At the helm in Bucharest, Simion would have ample opportunity to stir up trouble by pulling out of NATO training operations for Ukrainians, obstructing border crossings and the flow of arms into Ukraine, and rowing back on Romania’s pivotal role in helping Black Sea grain exports,” the article states.

According to the latest polls ahead of the presidential elections on Sunday, May 18, George Simion and Nicusor Dan are neck and neck. The decisive factor may be the diaspora vote.

Worryingly, a report by cybersecurity company Refute uncovered a large-scale international influence operation targeting Romanian diaspora voters on TikTok ahead of the second round.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Codrin Unici)