Fear and anger as 'battle for the soul of Romanian democracy' looms

Their last vote was cancelled due to alleged Russian meddling. Now Romanians fear what might happen in May.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersFear and anger mount as 'battle for the soul of Romanian democracy' looms12 hours agoShareSaveSarah RainsfordEastern Europe correspondentReporting fromPoeni, RomaniaShareSaveBBC/Sarah RainsfordThe nationalist George Simion is polling strongly in Romania ahead of electionsThe Romanian village of Poeni has a couple of shops, a kebab grill and a pack of stray dogs.

It also has a fair few voters who wanted a far-right candidate to become president.

Poeni, just over an hour's drive from the capital, is not alone in that.

Last November, Calin Georgescu – who admires Vladimir Putin and is no fan of Nato – came from the extremist fringe to win the first round of Romania's presidential election with 23% of the vote.

In Poeni he did even better, with 24%.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g7w3v5vw7o

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