After saying on Wednesday that he wanted Ukraine to be divided so that Romania could take over more territory, luring the backlash of both Romanian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministries, Călin Georgescu returned the next day with other controversial statements in which he challenges Ukraine’s statehood and claims that the leadership in Kyiv must “accept negotiations on territories to save lives.”
The statements about the division of Ukrainian territory made by Călin Georgescu in an interview with Ion Cristoiu drew a reaction from Kiev that Georgescu claims made him happy.
“Regarding the references to Romanian territories in Ukraine, I am glad to see the vehement reaction of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, because this means that the diplomats in Kiev also felt what a statement that creates national frustration sounds like. It is the same as how tens of thousands of Romanians in Ukraine, teachers, families and everyone together feel when they see that they too do not receive much respect for the language and history of the Romanian people, a people who opened their arms and hearts to the waves of Ukrainian refugees,” said Călin Georgescu in a recorded message broadcast on Thursday evening by Realitatea Plus, on Anca Alexandrescu’s show, where the former candidate is a constant guest, making weekly appearances.
He claimed that he has “all empathy and respect for the Ukrainian people,” but has “a problem with the corruption and false attitude of politicians, including those in Kyiv.”
“I would like to ask the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry how many cases of high-level corruption have there been in Ukraine since the war began. How much European money has been stolen by them through a European and implicitly Romanian attempt to help Ukraine?”, said the former presidential candidate.
Then, he launched into a series of criticisms of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he called a “semi-dictator”: “I have a problem with semi-dictators who put their own interests and those of the group they represent before the national interest. Why does Mr. Zelensky, like Mr. Iohannis, not allow free elections? Aren’t they afraid? How many families have sent their children to the hell of the battlefield and never returned? How many times has Mr. Zelensky asked for dialogue before asking for weapons? Never! I admit I have a problem with this attitude of his. His goal should have been to protect his people first and foremost. “Lands can be negotiated, but life is non-negotiable.”
“The fact that Ukraine is a state founded at the will of the great powers is a historical fact”
Georgescu continued with controversial statements, by claiming that “Ukraine will lose the battle between the great powers” and categorized the Kiev administration as “a mere actor in the film of the great international directors”.
“The fact that Ukraine is a state founded at the will of the great powers is a historical fact. It should not be considered a tendentious or defamatory statement. Even Germany reinvented itself in ’89 with the fall of the wall, so the statement should not be seen as an affront, but as a historical truth that we should take into account. Whatever the great powers decided, they still have the power to resolve”, Georgescu continued.
The night before, Călin Georgescu declared in an interview with journalist Ion Cristoiu that he wanted a division of Ukraine, after it was defeated by Russia, and that in this case “Romania has Northern Bukovina, Bugeac (southern Bessarabia), Northern Maramureș”.