Thursday night’s televised debate between George Simion and Nicușor Dan took place in a tense political climate, characterized by a deep polarization of Romanian society, defined as a political struggle between „progressives and sovereignists”. In the first round of the May 4 presidential elections, AUR leader Simion won 41% of the vote while Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, got 21%, setting the stage for a decisive round on May 18.
In the debate, the two candidates clashed on key issues such as foreign policy, European integration, the rule of law, administrative reforms and more. Political analyst Bogdan Chirieac, in an intervention on Romania TV, declared the clear winner of the debate, arguing that the latter demonstrated a more coherent and convincing vision for Romania’s future
At one point in the debate, George Simion, the AUR candidate, said: „Of course Vladimir Putin should be arrested for war crimes, but I part company with my opponent when he says that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and has no place in Romania”.
Nicușor Dan, on the other hand, equalizes Vladimir Putin and the Israeli Prime Minister, making the same mistake as Elena Lasconi before the first round: „It will never happen that President Putin comes to Romania while there is an arrest warrant. We must have a normal relationship with Israel and if the question is about Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Criminal Court decision, no, the answer is the same. It will never happen while there is this decision that Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to Romania”.
„This is where we can dot the foreign policy question…”
„If in the first confrontation, in my opinion, the one at BNS, was won by Nicușor Dan, this time I think that George Simion was far, in terms of vision, above Nicușor Dan.
Here we can point out the foreign policy question regarding the possible invitation of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Romania. Nicușor Dan said that he will not come because he is being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court, which has committed an unimaginable abuse against the Israeli Prime Minister and Israel.
George Simion said that if Donald Trump received him, I certainly will. So, this proves more depth in foreign policy now surrounding Romania. This is obvious.
Now, of course, the discussions about infrastructure, about attracting European funds, as we all know – but we can’t assimilate this – the president has no direct role in the matter.
He can have a role of influence, as Victor Ponta said. In other words, every morning he should also visit the government. That’s a yes. Otherwise, no. The Romanian Government is in charge of these things. It’s true that our governments haven’t really attracted much in the way of European funds or to develop infrastructure.
George Simion has mellowed since the first meeting. Nicușor Dan, who, in my opinion, seems more thorough in his explanations, has now more played Simion’s game. Simion is more frothy, more open, closer to popular language.
The issue of foreign policy, which is strictly a presidential prerogative, was obviously won by George Simion,” explained Bogdan Chirieac.
