Călin Georgescu files his candidacy for the presidential elections on Friday

Independent candidate Călin Georgescu, supported by the parliamentary parties AUR and POT, will file his candidacy for the May presidential elections on Friday, March 7, at 4:00 p.m., at the Central Electoral Office (BEC). AUR leader George Simion confirmed this information.

The deadline for submitting candidacy files for the presidential elections to the BEC is March 15, inclusive.

“I will not run in the presidential elections, AUR supports Mr. Călin Georgescu, because that is the normal thing to do. How could someone who did not enter the second round run (…). Plan A is simple: Second round, back, and plan B: filing Călin Georgescu’s candidacy,” said Simion.

Also asked about the possibility of Călin Georgescu’s candidacy being invalidated, George Simion said that he “excludes” this option.

POT leader Anamaria Gavrilă also said on Tuesday, during the HotSpot political podcast, that she does not consider the possibility of Călin Georgescu’s candidacy being invalidated.

“There is no plan B. Our plan is Călin Georgescu, who is a representative of this movement. It is not possible to invalidate someone just because you want to. Călin Georgescu has already gone through this entire validation procedure. For now, he has not been accused, tried, for anything,” said Anamaria Gavrilă.

More controversial statements

Meanwhile, Calin Georgescu made further controversial, anti-EU, anti-NATO statements today during an interview with a Moldovan journalist, Natalia Morari.

The interview moderator, Natalia Morari, was in the middle of a scandal in 2021, after it was revealed that she was in a relationship with fugitive oligarch Veaceslav Platon, accused of being involved in the theft of a billion dollars from Moldovan banks.

Călin Georgescu claims that Romania does not need the money offered by the European Union, because “we have God”. 

“The Romanian people and I have the most powerful one, God, that’s what we’re talking about, we’re not interested”, said Călin Georgescu about the situation in which the European Union could suspend funds granted to Romania, in a form similar to what happened in the case of the illiberal regime led by Viktor Orban.

The candidate returned to some themes that have no historical foundation, such as that the Romanian language is based on the Latin language, declaring that “any European country that has given culture, has given history – Italy, France – that wants to know its past, will find its roots, at least, which consistently start from the Romanian language”.

Georgescu tried to avoid a direct answer, claiming that “we have been here since the creation of the world”. Returning, he added “We are not here to stumble, as long as God is with us, no one can stand against us, because when you fight for your land and for God, no one can defeat you”.

Călin Georgescu condemned the sanctions applied by Brussels to Moscow, after Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine and claimed that Romania does not need foreign money.

“Romania will be the engine of Europe. Germany can no longer be, because it has nowhere to go. These sanctions that these tribals thought up have come back like a boomerang, because they have nowhere to support the economy. Romania will have somewhere to go. That is what I want for Romania. To become the main engine of Europe. Things will change, from where? From the economy. I do not need their money, what to do with it? You can’t do anything with money, enough has been sold for a pittance, including through neighboring countries. The country’s independence comes from the power to finance itself,” Georgescu said.

The former presidential candidate also drew a parallel between the moment when Moldova was invaded by the Ottoman Empire and the way he sees the countries’ relationship with the European Union: “Stephen the Great stood tall, the moment when there was an attempt to be invaded, then the Ottoman Empire was oppressing you, now the European Union is oppressing you. He stood tall, in the right belief.”

This is not the first time that Călin Georgescu has spoken out against the European Union. In a recent interview, when asked if Romanians still support membership in the European Union and NATO, he said: “Honestly, there is no support from my people, that is, there are no people who would go there or manage such a situation. How can we think of going somewhere else, for what? For such reasons, no one wants such a situation. Nobody supports this. By the way, James, why don’t they organize a referendum, which is totally normal? Hold a referendum for your people because I know for sure it will be negative for them”, as reported by adevarul.ro.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE), the total net amount received by Romania from the European Union (the difference between Romania’s contributions to the European budget and the money received from the EU), from the moment of accession (January 1, 2007) until 2023, amounted to 56 billion euros.

Explaining the “moneyless electoral campaign”

Călin Georgescu, who is currently under investigation in Romania for several charges, explained that in his electoral campaign he used “only 3-4 pictures, approved by a team of volunteers and that’s it”.

“Invest in freedom so that people can be creative. That’s how this electoral campaign was done: it was done through the freedom that I gave everyone. I sent 3-4 pictures on social media, with a modest team of volunteers around me. And I told everyone: we do as you think now. That was the whole campaign”, said Georgescu.

Comparing himself to Trump

As for the accusations of interference by the Russian Federation in his campaign, Georgescu claims that it would be a strategy applied similarly to the case of US President Donald Trump, who has been accused several times of sympathizing with Putin.

“It is a desperate system, which does not know what to do, because it is a global system: look, what is happening in America. (…) Let’s emphasize the interferences that were in no case from Russia, they have no proof whatsoever. I know nothing about this matter, what they invented. But it is a pattern: copy-paste from what happened to President Trump, that it is “Russian interference”, “Russia intervened”. They only changed the name Trump to Georgescu. That’s how minor they are in this aspect of thinking. But regarding the interferences, if I stop to think: the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Soros Sandu, so to speak, intervened, directly, openly, in the elections. She came here (ed.- Romania) and supported a rival candidate of mine, Elena Lasconi”, the former candidate for the position of President of Romania also said.

“The United States is a more important partner than NATO,” Georgescu said. “What matters is what America does, I think the advice I can give is that from the moment a democratic, large, very large entity, such as America, establishes a line, it is good to follow. That’s it, as advice,” Georgescu said.