02-02-2025: In one of the worst examples of flatly undemocratic authoritarianism, on December 6 last year the Romanian Constitutional Court cancelled the country’s presidential elections just two days before the final round of voting. The day before this shocking announcement, the then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had denounced “Russian interference” in the Romanian elections, comparing it to wild allegations that the Russian government had done the same in Moldova and Georgia.[1] There is little doubt that the Romanian Constitutional Court did not act alone, but under extreme pressure from the top officials of the European Union (EU) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) powers. This is certainly the first time in history that an election in Europe has been cancelled, on the basis of allegations that the government of the Russian Federation had somehow brought about the victory in the first round of Calin Georgescu. Georgescu’s “crime” was to take a stand against NATO’s proxy war on Russia via Ukraine, or even just to push for Romania to not play any part in it.
Electoral repression
The accusations against Russia and social media app Tik Tok are laughable. On November 28, Romania’s Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) announced that cyber attacks with the aim of influencing the “correctness of the electoral process” had taken place, which pointed to some state and non-state actors, “in particular the Russian Federation”.[2] As is usually the case with Western influenced accusations against Russia, not a shred of evidence was supplied to substantiate them. For its part, Tik Tok refuted allegations from EU backed Romanian authorities that it had interfered with, or influenced, the Romanian election. In fact, in a letter Tik Tok said that it had actually removed 150 impersonation accounts linked to Calin Georgescu and more than 650 accounts linked to other candidates.[3] So in fact, far from sullying the Romanian election, Tik Tok had arguably brought about a cleaner election process than would otherwise have been the case.
It is plain to see that the EU and NATO cancelled the elections of an EU member state to prevent a candidate from taking office who would have withdrawn Romania from any participation in a war against Russia and may have pushed for the withdrawal of Romania from NATO. Georgescu had the entirely rational position of stepping back from the prospect of nuclear war in Europe, which threatens to eliminate millions of innocent human beings. Even the world’s richest man Elon Musk weighed in on the side of democratic rights, when he commented “….how can a judge cancel an election and not be considered a dictator after that?”[4] Some who buy the myth of “Russian interference” can see how cancelling an election looks for the EU and the West. Pro-EU candidate Elena Lasconi, who was set to face Georgescu in the final round of the elections, admitted that Romania had allowed itself to be brought into ridicule when the Romanian state annulled its own elections.[5] Russia Today (RT) Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan observed that “Western democracy is dead and the only thing left to offer is condolences”. She went on to comment that there are no countries in the West where the majority of the population supports an anti-Russian course, and yet their governments pursue this contrary to the basic principles of democracy.[6]
Romanians mobilise
The Romanian people are not taking this lying down, and have mobilised in defence of their sovereignty.[7] On January 12 in the capital Bucharest, thousands of people marched in the streets waving Romania’s blue, yellow and red flag, along with placards with slogans such as “Democracy is Not Optional” and “We Want Free Elections”.[8] These are promising signs, but how far this movement is prepared to go is an open question. If the EU and NATO go ahead with cancelling the election or attempt to hold another election while preventing Georgescu from running, it will almost certainly be rejected by the Romanian people. Undeterred, former French European Commissioner Thierry Breton virtually admitted that the EU interfered in the Romanian election, when he commented that “they” (the EU) did it in Romania, and the same will be done, if necessary, in Germany.[9] Breton was referring to the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is gathering so much support that it is a chance of winning a major proportion of seats in the Bundestag. The AfD, amongst other things, is also opposed to the perilous war on Russia via Ukraine, especially given its negative economic impact in Germany.
There is an eminently disturbing trend across the West where political parties and candidates who do not support an insane NATO proxy war on Russia via Ukraine, nor the arming of Nazi battalions in Ukraine by Western governments such as the United Kingdom (UK), Germany and France – are automatically labelled “far-right”. This unfortunate phenomena has emerged as liberalism in the 21st century remains the only consistent ally of imperialism. In the 20th century, liberalism generally protested against war, against the security state, for due process in law, and even against the excesses of capitalism even if not by revolutionary means. For the first quarter of the 21st century, but certainly for the last 15 years, the role of the liberals has been reversed. This does lead to a situation where “populist” political forces emerge, taking up the positions that the “left” once championed.
To be clear, NATO’s war on Russia threatens the world with nuclear annihilation, and everything possible should be done to prevent this from even being contemplated. Yet capitalism is in such a dire crisis that apocalyptic war becomes its only possible salvation. While it prepares the world for this horrific scenario, imperialism relentlessly prosecutes regime change operations and colour revolutions in countless nations around the world. On top of these blatantly undemocratic moves, it uses large scale methods of electoral fraud even in the nations of the West itself. When this does not bring about the desired result, it resorts to simply conducting a coup, as has now occurred in Romania.
Working people of the world should now recognise that the era of bourgeois “democracy” has run its course. Cross-class capitalist elections must be jettisoned in favour of workers’ councils, which elect workers’ representatives to administer a republic where the major means of production, communication, transportation, infrastructure construction and the banks are owned publicly. Political leadership needs to be upheld by Leninist vanguard parties, containing the most advanced workers with an internationalist perspective. The time for socialist democracy has well and truly arrived.
Workers League
www.redfireonline.com
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[1] www.osce.usmission.gov/plenary-statement-31st-osce-ministerial-council-valletta-malta-december-5-2024/ (29-01-2025)
[2] www.romania-insider.com/romania-csat-cyberattack-tiktok-presidential-elections-nov-2024 (29-01-2025)
[3] www.politico.eu/article/romania-ban-tiktok-election-interference-calin-georgescu-european-commission/ (29-01-2025)
[4] www.romania.news-pravda.com/en/romania/2024/12/20/1598.html (29-01-2025)
[5] www.providencemag.com/2025/01/how-not-to-handle-russian-disinformation-romanias-recent-presidential-election/ (29-01-2025)
[6] www.prophecyupdate.blogspot.com/2024/12/eu-likely-pressured-romania-to-cancel.html (29-01-2025)
[7] www.x.com/BowesChay/status/1883202914954682632 (29-01-2025)
[8] www.firstpost.com/world/democracy-is-not-optional-thousands-in-romania-protest-cancelled-presidential-elections-13852147.html (29-01-2025)
[9] www.newstarget.com/2025-01-15-breton-interfered-romanian-election-similar-action-germany.html (29-01-2025)
Image: A January 12 rally in Bucharest against the annulment of the Romanian elections. http://www.romania-insider.com
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