The victory of Călin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania is seen by some pro-European politicians in the Republic of Moldova as a signal that “the rules of the game have changed in the EU and that some candidates promoted by the Kremlin can win the election.”
- The Republic of Moldova will hold parliamentary elections in the first half of next year after pro-European candidate Maia Sandu narrowly won the presidential election on November 3.
- The President of the Parliament speaks to TVR Moldova about the closure of TikTok in the country.
- Maia Sandu on the Romanian elections: “The distance from democracy to authoritarianism can be very short”
After the pro-European candidate Maia Sandu I won the presidential election hard from the Republic of Moldova, now the society and politicians of the neighboring country are watching with surprise what happened in Romania. However, it should be noted that the Romanian citizens of Moldova voted in large part for the candidate Elena Lasconi (56.6%), while Călin Georgescu collected only 3.11% of the votes, in the 59 seats of voting across the country.
PAS MP: “We have a deja vu when some hitherto unknown candidates appear at the top”
The deputy of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) Dorian Istratii says that the Republic of Moldova has experience in situations like the one that happened in Bucharest on Sunday. That is, for a totally unknown candidate to win before the election.
“It’s a surprise, I think for everyone. We, Romanians from the Republic of Moldova, have a déjà vu when some candidates who were not generally known until recently, appear in the list of candidates. Strange as it may be, these are the candidates supported by the Kremlin. We have seen that the press of the Russian Federation is already celebrating the candidate who came first in the presidential elections in Romania,” said the deputy.
A recent example that happened in Moldova is that in Gagauzia, where the Basque Country elections were won by a completely unknown candidate, Evghenia Guțul, financed by the pro-Russian Ilan Șor.
After what happened in Romania, the Moldovan politician believes that the politicians in the EU should think better because, in the following elections in every country of the European Union, totally unexpected things can happen, such as those candidates promoted by the Kremlin to finish. win the election.”
“Those candidates who use TikTok are not necessarily very transparent about the actual communication channels they have. They can have fake TikTok accounts that are not under their name, but they have thousands of channels and just promote their image. I technologies have advanced, considering how the TikTok algorithm works. The rules of the game have changed in election campaigns.”
As for how Călin Georgescu will influence the relationship with the Republic of Moldova in case he becomes president, the deputy says it is premature to pronounce.
“Mr. Georgescu is a candidate, the faces are independent, but in Romania there is the Senate, there is the Parliament, which will be elected next Sunday and I think they have the last word here. But at the same time, there is the second round, in which, I think, the right-wing and pro-European, pro-NATO forces in Romania will join together to save Romania,” Istratii said.
Expert in public policies: “The situation in Romania is a little different from what happened in Moldova where, at least declaratively, we had two pro-European candidates”
Andrei Curăraru, expert in public policies, the community “WatchDog”, from the Republic of Moldova, talks about the fact that the reaction of the political class in Romania, where the leaders of the major parties resigned after their candidates were not entered the second. round, “it must be an example also for those of Chisinau”.
As for the pro-Russian positions of the candidate Călin Georgescu, they were associated, public, unlike Moldova.
“In the Republic of Moldova, the situation is a little different, because both candidates declare themselves pro-European, but they saw different ways to achieve this goal.”
Andrei Curăraru also talks about the capacity of the Moldavian society that mobilized in the second round.
Regarding the possible involvement of Russia, the expert mentions the “suspicious promotion, through non-conventional channels, which could be carried out with the help of the Russian Federation. The candidate is at least a man who supports the Kremlin and he admires Vladimir Putin, a fact he has stated many times,” the expert told Hotnews.ro.
Blocking TikTok would be among the solutions, says the expert, who gives the example of other states that have taken all kinds of measures against the Chinese application.
The President of the Parliament talks about the blocking of TikTok in Moldova
The President of the Parliament, who is also the leader of PAS, Igor Grosu, he declared on Monday evening in a show on TVR Moldova that the authorities in Chisinau could consider blocking online platforms, such as TikTok, if it is proven that the information disseminated on these networks threatens national security.
“We are small markets in the sense that it does not matter much in this global activity. The only way is to have a common voice with the member countries of the European Union and not only the Council of Europe, through which some very clear rules are established in relation to all these gigantic platforms that have exceeded the size of a business.
Until they are used to influence the democratic and geopolitical processes. Therefore, they are very powerful tools, used cynically by autocracies like the one in Russia, but also in other small or large countries taken separately. When we will see, but we will see, that with binisor we are not heard as a voice, as a team, then we will reserve the right to act to protect our country”, said Igor Grosu, who did not exclude option. which closes these applications.
The leader of the socialists of Moldova is happy with the result in Bucharest
Not everyone is worried about the results of the presidential election in Bucharest. For example, the leader of the Socialist Party and the former president of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, positively evaluated the result of the first round of elections in the Prut.
“In Romania, the idea of national interest came first – sovereignty, economic protection, tradition and Christian values. The same is happening in the Republic of Moldova. We saw the first signal in the presidential elections, when the candidate presented by the socialists won the votes in the country. And the citizens of the country also rejected the pro-European Referendum. But the final victory will come in 2025, in the parliamentary elections, when Moldovans massively vote for the National Interest of our country”. wrote Igor Dodon, on his Telegram channel.
Maia Sandu: “The distance from democracy to authoritarianism can be very short”
President Maia Sandu spoke about the elections in Romania, in a speech delivered at the Romanian embassy, at the reception on the occasion of the National Day, which took place last night:
“The elections in Romania have shown us one more thing, which we, those of the Republic of Moldova, have experienced firsthand: democracy and freedom are under siege all over the world. The fight for freedom never ends.
The distance from democracy to authoritarianism can be very short. On Sunday, we relived the emotions of our election. And they put their finger on the wound. But they also reminded us of the power of a people that mobilizes in the face of danger. I understand that hope, however strong, is not enough for good to prevail. It is necessary that a people vote to defend their destiny and their place in the world.”
