George Simion: Meeting the proud pro-Trumper who could be Romania’s new president
We are ushered down some stairs beside a Lebanese restaurant and along a path next to a small garden.
We walk past some guards, into a private dining room and there is a man in a hoodie, offering a hand.
This is George Simion, just 38 years old but now sitting on the threshold of remarkable power.
He is the populist politician who has made it to the run-off to become Romania’s president.
The disruptor up against the mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan. The radical against the centrist.
Simion apologises for dressing down and tells me, with a laugh, that he will be wearing a suit “when I meet President Zelenskyy and President Trump“.
The name Trump will crop up a few times in our conversation.
On the table next to him is a red Make America Great Again baseball hat. Simion makes no secret of his admiration for Donald Trump.
So what, I ask, does he take from the leadership style of the American president?
“His way of speaking the truth,” he replies. “His way of defending one’s country and one’s interests.
“We are all, in Europe and America, fed up with politically correct people who undermine our freedom and opinions.
“We are fighting for freedom of speech and free election. We are fighting for God against evil.”
At just 38, George Simion is on the cusp of remarkable power. Pic: Reuters
The remarkable thing about this election is that, really, it shouldn’t be happening.
It is six months since the initial presidential election was annulled, after the country’s highest court decided that the leading candidate, the nationalist Calin Georgescu, should be disqualified due to allegations of electoral interference by Russia.
Simion could be the one to prosper from that. But – and here’s the twist – he’s also been one of the loudest critics of the decision to cancel the election.
He blames “the deep state” for trying to subvert democracy, and insists the move has failed.
“They managed to build a big statue for Mr Georgescu to make him a big victim,” says Simion.
“Clearly the majority of the Romanian people now hate their guts for how they manage to govern the country.
“We are getting poorer and poorer and that’s why we have so many Romanians in Great Britain.”
And in the biggest twist of all, he now talks of bringing Georgescu into government, should he win the presidency.
So, I ask, would he really offer the job of prime minister to Georgescu – a man who once told me that COVID wasn’t real and that he was being undermined by a global conspiracy led by George Soros?
“If we have a landslide victory tomorrow – and if Calin Georgescu wants it – then yes, of course.
“They tried to ban me, kick me out, bribe me – with lots and lots of cash. I’m not for sale. I’m doing this for my country and for honour.”
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Calin Georgescu denies Russian links
He said he would follow Trump’s lead on Ukraine, which neighbours Romania, and played down any suggestion that he would extend a hand of friendship to Moscow.
“Russia left really bad memories here, and many scars, and we don’t believe that in the foreseeable future we would have good relations,” he told me.
He did support peace negotiations between Russia and the United States, insisting they would need to include security guarantees, particularly to protect countries such as Romania and the Baltic states.
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‘We want you Brits back’
And there was a word, too, for Britain. Simion told me he regretted Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, but said he could understand “why you want to get away from Ursula von der Leyden and Emmanuel Macron”.
Romania, he emphasised, had worked hard to get a place within the EU and NATO “so we are here to stay and won’t be going anywhere”.
But he said the EU should focus on being an economic project – the idea of a more federal Europe seems to horrify him.
“We would like more and more cooperation with you British,” he said.
“We feel bad that we are not in the same single market and we share lots of history together and we want you Brits back.
“I learned much more about British culture and civilisation during the English lessons in my school than many of your high school kids do. So we hope to have the same future as part of the free world.”
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‘It will be a landslide’
Our time is up, but before I leave he shows me a chart on the wall, marked with predictions from his team.
The most optimistic has him winning with 57% of the vote, but he disagrees.
“It will be a landslide,” he tells me. “At least 60%.”
He may not have decades of experience, but he does not lack for confidence.
World
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
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Do Trump and Netanyahu really get along?
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
Read more:
IDF chief says conditions ‘created’ for Gaza ceasefire
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal ?
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Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
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