Far-right Romanian presidential candidate loses court case over ties to Russian agents

The leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR), Romanian presidential candidate George Simion, lost a court case against former Moldovan Defense Minister Anatol Salaru, who accused the candidate of meeting with Russian agents, Digi24 reported.

Simion lost in the first instance a lawsuit filed in Chisinau against the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, Anatol Salaru.

Two years ago, the former Moldovan official released information according to which the AUR presidential candidate had met in the past with representatives of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Kremlin’s main intelligence service, as well as another person known in Moldova as a “Russian man.”

According to official data on the Moldovan court portal, Simion filed a lawsuit against Salaru in 2023 “to protect his honor, dignity, and professional reputation.”

On April 9, a Chisinau court rejected a request for a subpoena “to refute the information disseminated on the website **** during an interview called *****,” the Moldovan court said in a decision.

The decision, however, may be appealed within the next 30 days to the Chisinau Court of Appeal.

Anatol Salaru reacted to this by posting a message on his personal Facebook page, in which he recalled that he had accused George Simion of “the competent authorities having collected evidence and noticed” that the AUR leader “carried out illegal activities that undermine the Moldovan state.”

Salaru noted that Moldovan intelligence had informed the Moldovan authorities that George Simion had also met with Moscow agents in Chernivtsi.

According to him, his statements were confirmed by Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service, as well as former Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat, who had direct access to the dossier prepared by the authorities.

The former defense minister also accused Simion of “trying to create instability” in the Republic of Moldova.

“His actions, the way he carried them out, and not least his statements against Maia Sandu during the campaign four years ago, when he called on Moldovans to vote against her, showed me that Simion does not truly wish Moldova well,” added Salaru.

Simion is banned from entering Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and is accused of having ties to the Russian Federation’s intelligence services, whose agenda he is promoting in both countries, as well as in Romania.

Recent polls indicate that Romanian far-right presidential candidate George Simion is the leader in the latest ratings, but in most scenarios he will lose in the second round.

The winner of the canceled first round of elections, anti-Western politician and conspiracy theorist Calin Georgescu, was banned from running in the second round of presidential elections. The first round was cancelled due to a foreign interference campaign that included TikTok videos promoting Georgescu.

Thereafter, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, George Simion, became the only candidate for the presidency of Romania among the far-right forces.