Photo credit: Euronews
Calin Georgescu is leading in the first round of Romania’s presidential election.
Barron’s reports that Calin, a far-right figure, is a pro-Russian, anti-vaxxer radical with a gift for social media. He is barely known outside Romania. His popularity rose ahead of Sunday’s vote with viral TikTok campaigns calling for an end to aid for Ukraine and sounding a sceptical note on NATO.
He ran as an independent and has attracted a sizeable following on YouTube for years, away from mainstream media.
In one anti-vaccination video, he can be seen stripping down to jump into a snow-covered lake high in the mountains while praising his “faith in God” and the strength of his “immune system”.
Several of his TikTok videos have been viewed between two and three million times, with messages like “for Romania, for peace” especially resonating with voters worried about the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
“The internet is the only place where there is freedom of expression,” he said in a recent video.
Unlike his opponents, he did not participate in a debate with other candidates and thus was “not attacked by anyone” or his record “dismantled”, he added.
An expert said many undecided voters, who felt disappointed by the established parties, saw him as a “saviour” as there are so few leaders capable of “uniting them.”
