Free Republic

George Simion, the leader of the right-wing Union of Romanians (AUR) party, has emerged as the frontrunner in Romania’s upcoming presidential election, polling reveals. Simion is projected to win the first round of voting on May 4 with approximately 29 percent of the vote, according to Politico’s Poll of Polls. This puts him ahead of his nearest rivals, former National Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu at 22 percent and Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan at 20 percent. Simion’s rise to prominence comes in the wake of the controversial decision to annul the results of the previous presidential election held in December....

A Swiss think tank has reported that U.S. intelligence agencies, allegedly acting under the directives of the Trump administration, are investigating former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his assistant James O’Brien for purportedly pressuring Romanian authorities to annul the country’s presidential election results. According to the report, Blinken—an arch-neocon and influential figure in America’s globalist, interventionist foreign policy establishment—collaborated with former Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu to pressure officials in Bucharest into annulling Călin Georgescu’s first-round presidential victory, thereby ensuring Romania remained aligned with pro-NATO and globalist interests. The Diplomatic Affairs, a Geneva-based think tank focused on assessing global...