Politician whose party called Holocaust ‘minor topic’ loses Romania presidential bid
George Simion met with Israel’s envoy to Romania in 2022 amid criticism from Yad Vashem over far-right party’s antisemitism record, ending official Israeli boycott of group
JTA — A far-right politician from a political party with a record of minimizing the Holocaust will not lead Romania, after a tense runoff presidential election finished with a rival centrist candidate winning 54 percent of the vote.
The outcome was seen as surprising because George Simion, of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, had been far ahead in the first round of voting earlier this month. Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, prevailed after Simion floundered in a televised debate and some voters rejected his self-styling in the vein of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
Dan’s win signals a commitment to Romania’s NATO membership and continued aid to Ukraine, which Simion suggested Romania should withdraw.
It also sidelines a political party with a track record of minimizing the Holocaust and galvanizing antisemitism — and that far-right ministers in the Israeli government have courted.
In 2022, AUR drew criticism after it called Holocaust education, which had recently been mandated in Romanian high schools, a “minor topic.”
But the next year, Simion met with Israel’s ambassador to Romania amid criticism from Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, over the party’s record on antisemitism. The meeting marked a reversal of Israel’s official policy of boycotting AUR.
In Romania, which is home to around 12,000 Jews, the lead-up to the election saw a resurgence in symbolism associated with the Iron Guard, a Romanian antisemitic militant movement during the 1930s. AUR leaders have previously defended the record of historical figures in the Iron Guard as well as those who served in the regime of Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu — an ally of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
A previous election in which an AUR candidate, Calin Georgescu, praised Antonescu was canceled given concerns about Russian interference. Romania’s ambassador to Israel also charged that Israeli officials had inappropriately interfered in that election by speaking directly with Georgescu.
Israeli officials did not immediately congratulate Dan on his win. He drew criticism from the government after he stated during a debate with Simion that he would not invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Romania as long as Netanyahu has a warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
In a speech after the election was announced, Dan praised voters for combating the wave of hate that had swept through the country.
“What you did was extraordinary,” Dan said to a crowd outside his campaign headquarters early Monday, according to the Washington Post. “You confronted the hate wave. This is your victory.”
The Times of Israel Community.