A pro-Putin, anti-Western storm makes landfall in Romania

The stakes in next Sunday’s presidential runoff are probably the highest in the 35 years since the overthrow of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu

A strange thing happened to Romania on its way to another humdrum post-communist election: A sudden outbreak of the right-wing populist virus, driven by a suspicious TikTok mega-mobilization. In the background, with the usual implausible deniability, you can make out a shadow that looks a lot like Vladimir Putin.

The stakes in next Sunday’s second round presidential election are probably the highest in the 35 years since the overthrow of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the most violent of the revolutions that swept away communism in Eastern Europe and put an end to the Warsaw Pact – an earthquake that Putin has described as a tragedy.

Should ultranationalist insurgent Calin Georgescu win, it might mark a shift returning Romania to Russia’s orbit. It would be a huge blow to the European Union and NATO – of which he is a skeptic, like his fellow travelers. As Romania is a NATO member critical to the aid supply to neighboring Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, it would be terrible news for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Georgescu has said placing NATO's missile defense shield in Romania was a "shame of diplomacy," that the alliance wouldn’t protect members if they’re attacked by Russia, that Putin is “a patriot” and that Romania’s best bet was to go with "Russian wisdom." He says he saw aliens and the moon landing was faked and has also labelled Romania’s pro-Nazi World War II leaders national heroes; in Eastern Europe, which doesn’t have the same problem Western countries do with large-scale Muslim immigration, the sketchy right has not yet let go of antisemitism.

Georgescu came out of nowhere on Nov. 24 to emerge in first place with 22 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election. According to numerous analyses, he benefited from the sudden appearance, in the days prior to the election, of about 5,000 TikTok accounts seemingly coordinated in their messages and reaching about 50 million impressions. The suspicion naturally fell on Russia, and the matter is under investigation.

“A campaign of such ambition is a first in Romania, not only in budget but organization,” said digital marketing expert Cristi Birta, who estimated the cost at 2 million euros (about $2.1 million). Birta said that while it was tempting to blame Russia, and “there is categorical evidence in the case of other countries,” it was too early here to say.