The European Union could be facing a potential crisis after the frontrunner in the Romanian presidential election lauded Vladimir Putin and vowed to provide “zero” support to neighbouring Ukraine if he wins.
Calin Georgescu, who is vying for votes to beat former TV presenter Elena Lasconi in the final presidential run-off on Sunday, has had to deny he is “Moscow’s man”, adding that he is “not a fan” of the Russian president.
Nevertheless, he praised Putin as a “patriot and a leader”, amid concerns that the Kremlin is meddling in the election.
On Wednesday, the outgoing president published declassified intelligence documents claiming Georgescu’s campaign – which has been carried out exclusively on TikTok – has been carried out in a “highly organised” way by a “state actor”.
Georgescu said the documents were the work of the country’s “un-intelligence agencies”, adding that “they can’t accept that the Romanian people finally said, ‘we want our life back, our country, our dignity'”.
According to the BBC he also appeared to deny Russia was waging war in Ukraine, which shares a 381-mile border with Romania.
Asked what he made of the war, he replied: “Are you sure of that?”
It was put to the presidential hopeful whether he shared the European Union’s pledge to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes”, to which he flatly replied: “No”.
“I agree just that I have to take care of my people. I don’t want to involve my people,” he said. This is despite Romania’s membership of the EU and the defensive military alliance NATO.
“Zero. Everything stops. I have to take care just about my people. We have a lot of problems ourselves”, he said.
After the release of the intelligence reports, the Romanian constitutional court has been flooded with requests to investigate and cancel the election.
Prosecutors have since announced a criminal investigation is being opened but there is no timeline on when it will be completed. The final presidential run-off takes place on December 8.
