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