Media investigation exposes Călin Georgescu’s ties to Soros Foundation and USAID, after his public attacks on them

A new investigation from independent journalists at Recorder shows that far-right politician Călin Georgescu, who routinely accuses American-Hungarian billionaire George Soros of meddling in Romanian politics, partnered with the latter’s Foundation and the USAID in the 1990s.

The investigation begins by noting that Călin Georgescu led NGOs focused on environmental and sustainable development issues: Tineretul Ecologist din România (1990-1996) and the National Center for Sustainable Development, or CNDD (1997-2011). Before Romania joined the EU in 2007, these organizations were almost entirely funded by international sources, including the EU and the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID.

The latter is now an anathema on the far-right in Romania and the United States, after the Trump administration claimed it was a tool to finance far-left movements. The US president dismantled the organization and cut USD 60 billion in aid, doing away with programs that targeted ebola and HIV in Africa, among others.

However, after the Romanian anti-communist Revolution of 1989, USAID money backed NGOs across Eastern Europe. Călin Georgescu even became embroiled in a scandal regarding financing from USAID.

In the summer of 2003, Romania was set to receive a USD 35 million installment as part of the 2002-2006 Romania Assistance Strategy. A portion of the funds was meant to be managed through the National Center for Sustainable Development and the Federation of Local Authorities of Romania.

In June 2003, three USAID employees reported to the USAID Inspector General in the US that "after receiving the money, Călin Georgescu demanded that there be no oversight on their destination" and that they were "witnessing fund extortion." The press reported that, up until that moment, Georgescu had received USD 215,000 in non-reimbursable funds from USAID. Amid this scandal, journalists portrayed Călin Georgescu as "an influential figure with connections" among politicians.

USAID was not the only source of funding for Georgescu. In 1995, the local publication Jurnal bihorean noted that Călin Georgescu’s Tineretul Ecologist and the Soros Foundation for an Open Society were organizing "Ecology Education Week" in four high schools in Oradea. The partnership between Georgescu’s NGO and George Soros’s foundation was carried out in connection with Earth Day.