The EU Killed Romania’s Democracy

Romania has fallen to the status of a 'hybrid regime,' the only one in the European Union, and we have EU politicians and corrupt bureaucrats to thank for it.

On March 11th, the Romanian Constitutional Court banned the most popular candidate from running in the May presidential election. The Court unanimously rejected Călin Georgescu’s appeal after the Central Electoral Bureau invalidated his candidacy late last week.

This scheme to block Georgescu’s pro-peace, EU-skeptic run didn’t simply appear overnight; it was a calculated and precise plan to deplatform the most popular candidate—who garnered almost 40 percent of the vote according to a February AtlasIntel poll—from running for president. Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the December 2024 election results after Georgescu plainly won the first round with almost 23 percent of the vote. In what appears to be an almost identical strategy to how the Democrats attempted to oust Donald Trump, the Court alleged widespread Russian interference which compromised the election results, and then subsequently canceled the second round of voting. 

Romania is not known for its political or legal transparency. With a Transparency.org rating of 46 out of 100, Romana is considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. It should come as no surprise that, by merely suspecting Russian interference and fraud, the country’s top court was able to outright cancel the presidential elections, and with it, the people’s voice.

Since December, Romania has been hard at work to silence Georgescu. The country’s government has been actively raiding and harassing his supporters and is now threatening to arrest people for “spreading fake news and inciting violence and supporting actions against the constitutional order,” if they dare share videos of the ongoing protests and instances of police brutality against Romanian demonstrators.

"We are faced with a communist regime as well…," Călin Georgescu told Fox News, “[t]hey are trying to destroy democracy. They could not accept to lose the power and access to the money."

Prosecutors even launched a criminal investigation into Georgescu, citing various potential criminal violations like “hate speech,” anti-constitutional acts, and misreporting finances. Despite lacking any evidence tying Georgescu himself to these allegations, the 62-year-old politician was put on judicial control, is banned from leaving the country, and is forbidden from creating any additional social media accounts.

In an X post, Georgescu called out the European Union’s election interference: “[T]he masters have decided: no equality, no freedom, no fraternity for Romanians. Long live France and Brussels, Long live their colony called Romania!”

The EU Is No Friend Of Liberty

Leaders in the European Union have been cheering on the blatant destruction of Romania’s democratic process. An Austrian MP openly celebrated Georgescu’s police detainment and is confident that “other countries will follow” in persecuting public figures who speak out against the EU’s Orwellian laws and regulations. Meanwhile, Romanian authorities and the European Commission have been meeting with NGOs to restrict and censor “illegal” content on online platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok ahead of Romania’s re-run election in May.

Elon Musk criticized these disinformation roundtables, saying: "NGOs…will work with authorities and social media platforms to flag and remove content they label as 'disinformation.’”

Unfortunately, this sort of authoritarian behavior is now the norm throughout Europe. European countries actively prosecute their citizens for “offensive” online content—which includes reposting or even liking joke posts deemed “problematic” or “toxic.”

In England, people are barred from silently praying in certain public spaces, The Metropolitan Police are actively searching for hateful online speech outside of the UK as well. Police Commissioner Mark Rowley issued this foreboding threat: “We will throw the full force of the law at people, and whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you.” If only the UK police put as much effort into protecting the victims of England’s notorious grooming gangs as they do policing speech.

Similarly in Germany, the police are legally allowed to show up to your home unannounced, confiscate all your electronics, and fine or arrest you for criticizing politicians on platforms like X or Facebook.

The hypocrisy of European “democracy” is on full display. While the European Commission labels Romania’s decision to cancel its presidential election as “protecting democracy,” it eagerly invites Syria’s new Islamic government to its donor conference in Brussels; the same Syrian government that has been torturing and executing hundreds of Christian and Alawite minorities in the past few days. Instead of condemning the new government for this ongoing genocide, the EU quickly blamed “pro-Assad elements,” despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

Romania is the canary in the coal mine for the future of European democracy. It is clearer now than ever before that if you speak out against the machine, the machine will make an example of you. Under the guise of “protecting democracy,” EU leaders have silenced political opposition, threatened arrest, and fined average citizens for their own personal speech. It appears Brussels has successfully achieved its own Iron Curtain in 2025.

Will Europeans wake up, or will they continue to kneel under the boot of authoritarianism? They need to decide quickly before it’s too late.