Starting on Sunday night, in Nicușor Dan's camp, a deranged process which, paradoxically, is the best campaign George Simion could've hoped for! It is the hurriedness to announce an economic & social apocalypse if Simion is elected president. Dan's fans forgot that those who bring about doom are executed, and the people will proceed the same way, choosing those who are calm and optimistic. If the hysteria continues, the effect will be opposite and the beneficiary will be Simion and not Dan.

Since yesterday, politicians, journalists, influencers, other supporters of Nicușor Dan, speak of the coming of the end times: the currency has collapsed, the investors are fleeing, there won't be any money left for pensions and salaries, foreign banks will stop giving loans, credit rating agencies will drop the country into the junk category, the EU will freeze all funds, the EU will kick us out of Schengen etc. With their eyes gouging out and foaming mouths they insult "idiots" and "uneducated" people who voted for Simion even proposing to take away the right to vote for the diaspora.

If it took only 48 hours to reach this point, imagine what will happen on election day. The desperation and hysteria will be utterly insane. The problem is the people already know something bad is coming no matter what. Exaggerating the bad won't do any favours. In such circumstances, popular politicians are those who bring hope, who are calm and optimistic, not rabid hysterics.

Călin Georgescu kicked off his campaign last year with a similar message which showed itself to be the key to success. In general, he never spoke of hatred, of public executions like Crin Antonescu, or repression, revenge, lex talionis. He didn't speak about war, famine, poverty and isolation. He spoke about peace, coming together as a nation, faith in God, love, mothers, children, family and respect.

Georgescu pleaded for giving dignity back to Romania, he criticised the obedience to foreign organisations which he said were chipping away the sovereignty of the country: "The Romanian people have awoken! They don't want to be on their knees, they don't want to be invaded and they don't want to be humiliated". He promoted peace in a region stressing about the war in Ukraine. (...)

With a calm and soft spoken voice, employing nationalist and religious discourse he promoted a different message focused on family, land and faith proposing a new form of education centered on spirituality and not exposing children to sexual degeneracy.

Georgescu's messaging was appealing thanks to the mass corruption, arrogance and sheer contempt for the people which the PSD-PNL coalition has. Călin Georgescu rarely raised his voice or speak rapidly, he was always careful to remain calm and focused on the choice of words never showing any negative emotions. (...)

George Simion copied Călin Georgescu's discourse building a similar political campaign against the political establishment, for conservative values, for a Europe of sovereign nations, for peace in Ukraine and union with Moldova, never mentioning anything about an economic crisis.

The deranged campaign of his adversaries, who blame everything on him, can only incite anger in any reasonable human being. Did the currency crash because of Simion's victory or the late resignation of the premier coupled with the news of Romania's future bankruptcy? Romania being thrown into the junk category is because of Simion's potential failures or the fault of the previous government's ballooning deficit, rampant inflation, led by unelected leaders, a government who has been living for the past three years on loans?

To blame all of this on Simion is the perfect gift for him and will backfire terribly on Nicușor Dan, who already is in a difficult position as he has less supporters than Simion.

Bucharest intends to acquire 246 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for its Land Forces, with the contract expected to be signed this year, the Romanian Ministry of National Defence confirmed in an email to Defence Industry Europe.

According to the Ministry’s press service, the contract will include training simulators and initial logistic support. Deliveries of the new IFVs are expected to be completed within eight years. The programme has been described by the Ministry as a “priority”. (...)

Leading manufacturers of IFVs have expressed interest in the Romanian programme. Defence industry companies showcased their proposals for Romania’s armed forces during the BSDA 2024 exhibition, which took place in May last year. Among the vehicles proposed were the Redback (Hanwha Aerospace), KF41 Lynx (Rheinmetall), CV90 (BAE Systems), and ASCOD 2 (General Dynamics European Land Systems). (...)

The EPP Group denounces the Romanian Socialist Party's decision not to support the pro-European presidential candidate, Nicușor Dan, in the second round of the Romanian presidential election.

"The decision of the Social Democratic Party of Romania is simply unacceptable. I expect a clear commitment from them to back the only pro-European candidate. In the face of rising extremism across Europe, there is no room for political games,” declared Manfred Weber MEP, the Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.

“Romania plays a pivotal role within the EU, particularly in safeguarding the European Union’s security, given its position on the border with Ukraine. An anti-European, populist, and extremist candidate such as George Simion, who has been banned from entering both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, poses a threat not only to Romania’s security but also to that of the European Union as a whole,” said Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-Chair of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.

“The EPP Group fully backs the decision of the EPP member parties, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, to show their support for Nicușor Dan. A political party’s true commitment to Europe is shown through real decisions at important times like this, not just through statements or impressive wording in party documents,” concluded Weber and Mureșan.