Calin Georgescu: Early election showing stuns Romania

In a TV interview in May 2018, he called Russian President Putin one of the few politicians in the world who is “a true leader”. This has earned him a reputation as a pro-Russian politician, though there is little other evidence. His victory on Sunday was warmly welcomed in several Russian media, including Sputnik, Russia Today and RIA Novosti. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, remarked obliquely that “he had never heard of him”.

Other international comparisons have been made with Hungary’s veteran prime minister, Viktor Orban, whom he is said to admire. The two men could find common ground, in their demand for an end to the war in Ukraine, and the importance of restoring peace in Europe.

Some of his most controversial remarks concern two leaders of the Romanian Iron Guard, a fascist and mystically Christian movement in Romania between 1927 and 1944, whom he described as “heroes”. This led to his expulsion from George Simion’s AUR.

Nevertheless Georgescu denies that his programme is in any way antisemitic or xenophobic.

A key factor in his victory on Sunday was his adept use of social media, especially TikTok, where he has more than 330,000 followers – up from 30,000 a fortnight ago – and more than 4m likes. That translated into over two million votes in this election.