The cancellation of the Romanian presidential election was mentioned by US Vice President JD Vance in his speech on the first day of the Munich Security Conference.
JD Vance criticized in his speech that a former European Commissioner “recently appeared on television and seemed delighted that the Romanian government had just canceled an entire election” and suggested that “the same thing could happen in Germany”.
Although not named directly, the former commissioner the vice-president is referring to is Thierry Breton. Earlier this year, the French politician pointed to the Romanian precedent to suggest a possible annulment of the results of the German elections if they were not conducted correctly.
“They did it in Romania and it will have to be done in Germany too, if necessary,” Breton said.
“For years, we have been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values, everything from our policy towards Ukraine to digital censorship is presented as a defense of democracy. But when we see European courts annulling elections and senior officials threatening to annul others, we should ask ourselves whether we are holding ourselves to a high enough standard,” said JD Vance.
The annulment of the Romanian elections took place “on the basis of weak suspicions from an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from our continental neighbours,” Vance said. He criticizes the suggestion that democracy can be destroyed by online advertising from a foreign country, saying that if you believe that, then your democracy “wasn’t very strong to begin with.”
He also criticized the organizers of the Munich conference for preventing populist parties from attending the event, saying that “we don’t have to agree but it is our duty to at least engage in dialogue with them.”
“For many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it increasingly looks like old entrenched interests hiding behind Soviet-era dirty words like disinformation and lying, who simply don’t like the idea that someone with an alternative point of view might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote differently or, even worse, win an election,” Vance continued.
Ilie Bolojan: “I Assure All Our Partners that Romania Remains a Reliable Ally”
Interim President Ilie Bolojan responded to JD Vance’s statements regarding cancelled presidential elections: “As Interim President of Romania, I reassure all our partners and allies that Romania remains a reliable ally, firmly committed to a cohesive European Union, a stronger NATO and a solid transatlantic partnership,” Bolojan said in a X post.
Elena Lasconi: It is vital to explain why elections had been cancelled
In her turn, USR chairwoman, Elena Lasconi, the one who had reached the second round in the presidential ballot with Calin Georgescu, and the party’s candidate in the May presidential elections, said that JD Vance confirms that it is vital to explain why the elections were canceled, based on the Constitutional Court’s decision of December 6:
“Romania has not explained to external partners, nor even to its strategic partner, what happened in December last year. In addition to answers, we also need the exact people responsible and concrete measures to ensure that the May elections are safe,” Lasconi posted on her Facebook page.
There is a new Sheriff in town. Bring the election’s 2nd round forward. The tidal wave has started.