Romanian far-right party leader reportedly targeted by investigation into forged signatures for EP elections

George Simion, the leader of Romania's far-right party AUR, is reportedly being investigated by prosecutors for allegedly instigating members of the party to forge lists of signatures necessary for submitting the candidacy of Silvestru Șoșoacă. Silvestru is the husband of far-right senator Diana Șoșoacă and is running as an independent in the European Parliament (EP) elections after falling out with his wife.

Diana Șoșoacă, elected on AUR lists during the last general elections, was quickly expelled from the party after disagreements with Simion years ago.

Prosecutors did not name George Simion in their press release, but local media sources point toward him. In response to the investigation, the AUR leader wrote on Facebook that the establishment parties want to remove AUR from the electoral lists.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Simion allegedly "instigated, both directly and through intermediaries, several members of a political party and a series of employees of the Romanian Parliament who perform work activities within the respective political party, to falsify several thousand lists of signatures necessary for an independent candidate to submit a candidacy for the European Parliament elections on June 9, 2024."

Independent candidates for the European Parliament had to reach a threshold of 100,000 signatures to be able to run.

Simion allegedly encouraged others to ensure Silvestru’s candidacy by “entering the real data of some citizens into the lists, copied from other supporter lists previously completed by party members, followed by falsifying the signatures of those individuals.”

To do so, “the party leader sent voice messages on communication groups, and in situations where certain individuals refused to comply, he contacted them directly, instructing them to go to the organization's headquarters for the stated purpose," prosecutors said, cited by News.ro. Consequently, on April 9, approximately 50 people gathered at the party headquarters, with some staying overnight, and activities continued throughout April 10.

On April 11, the Central Electoral Bureau representatives officially confirmed the acceptance of the candidacy. Silvestru Șoșoacă, the husband of senator Diana Șoșoacă, was brought in for questioning in the same case on Wednesday, June 5.

(Photo source: George Calin | Inquam Photos)