What could happen to Ukraine if Călin Georgescu becomes president?

The independent nationalist beat all expectations by winning the first round of the presidential elections in Romania on Sunday.

Transcript

00:00Anti-NATO and pro-Russian candidate Kalin Georgescu has won the first round of the presidential

00:11elections in Romania on Sunday.

00:15The independent nationalist candidate rode on an anti-establishment wave and there has

00:19been suspected foreign interference.

00:24The results came as a shock as Romania has been one of Ukraine's biggest supporters

00:29since the beginning of the war.

00:32But Georgescu's anti-war rhetorics do not seem to be the main reason for his success.

00:38We can put this success on his anti-establishment and the frustration of the population with

00:46the, let's say, old guard.

00:48This is what we're seeing now.

00:49It's a lot about the economy, the inflation, the poor state of things in Romania and also

00:56about his promise to make peace at all costs.

01:01We don't know what exactly that means, but these were his main political items.

01:06A strong pro-EU country, Romania is a pillar of the eastern flank of NATO.

01:12It hosts multinational battlegrounds and a key ballistic missile defense system is located

01:17in its Deveselu military base.

01:21Romania shares a 650-kilometer-plus border with Ukraine.

01:25It remains to be seen how a Georgescu victory in the second round would practically change

01:30the country's positioning.

01:31We cannot expect, not even in this alternative, a dramatic shift of the policy of the country,

01:38I don't think.

01:39And as I said, the strong majority of the population does support pro-European, pro-transatlanticist

01:46agenda, so he cannot go against such a big crowd of the population.

01:53My attitude pro-NATO is quite strong.

01:55In fact, if there is some dissatisfaction with NATO, it's not because NATO is present,

01:59but rather that NATO maybe hasn't supported, in their theory, enough Ukraine.

02:06Romania has also played an important economic role for Ukraine since the beginning of the

02:11war by ensuring the transit of grain through its harbors.

02:15We secure the gates of NATO at the Black Sea, a Black Sea which has been long considered

02:22a Russian sea.

02:23It shouldn't be seen like that.

02:25It is the sea where also Crimea is, where Turkey, where Russia.

02:28I think it is a gatekeeper role that is very, very important, and we intend to keep that

02:33role as important and as reliable as possible.

02:40Georgescu will run in the second round against Elena Lascone, also a surprise winner who

02:45strongly supports Romania's key role in NATO and the European Union.