Romanians Are Not So Passive as We Thought

Even the "far right" was asleep at the switch.

This piece has just been published at the Forum for Democracy International (AfD), a think tank and political party in the Netherlands. It will likely be published elsewhere as well. It is a little different from my usual subject matter, but the horrifying developments not far away in Ukraine and the present brinksmanship that is propelling the West and Russia dangerously close to nuclear war — all this give this election result an importance that may not be immediately apparent. Romania may soon join Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, and other dissenters from the “collective West” consensus, and Romania is a frontline state with major NATO bases. Neglected Romania at last has a chance, not only to be heard, but to influence events.

The AfD site does not take comments, but you can comment here below.

AfD also reprinted my recent piece on the US elections, “So the Good Guy Won, and the Bad Guys Lost?”

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Romanians Are Not So Passive as We Thought

27 November 2024 | Stephen Baskerville

The first-round result in Romania’s presidential election has shocked the European political class. Calin Georgescu, a candidate from the “extreme right,” who was ignored in pre-election news broadcasts and polls, just won first place with 23% of the vote. The candidate favored by the media (and pollsters), current Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, came in third with 19% rather than the predicted 26%. In the second round, Georgescu will compete with another media favorite, Elena Lasconi, variously described as “liberal” and “center-right” (ideological labels are flexible in Romania) and an “ardent backer of Romania's membership in NATO and the EU, as well as a vocal supporter of Ukraine” (in the description of Radio Free Europe).

Romania has long been known as a traditionalist and Christian country, like most of East-Central Europe. (…)

Read the rest at the Forum for Democracy International.

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If you want to read more analysis that will push you to think “outside the box,” you will find it in my new book, Who Lost America? Why the United States Went "Communist” — and What to Do about It — available from Amazon.

Stephen Baskerville is Professor of Politics at the Collegium Intermarium in Warsaw. His books and recent articles are available at www.StephenBaskerville.com.