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The conclusions of the most recent report on human rights compliance - a document published on August 12 by the State Department - cast a shadow over the decision of the Constitutional Court of December 6, 2024, to annul last year's presidential elections, but show that in our country there are problems regarding compliance with the legislation prohibiting the denial of the Holocaust and the promotion or use of symbols representing fascist, racist or xenophobic ideologies or symbols associated with the nationalist, extremist, fascist and anti-Semitic Legionary movement from the interwar period, a political party and a paramilitary movement from the World War II era, aligned with the Nazis.
The statements by which Călin Georgescu promoted the cult of General Ion Antonescu, as well as the figure of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and the Legionary Movement, statements for which a criminal case was filed against him four years ago, for which the Prosecutor's Office ordered in 2023 not to initiate criminal prosecution, represent violations of the legislation mentioned in the State Department report, both on the part of the perpetrator and on the part of the authorities who did not apply the legal provisions.
Basically, the State Department report shows that in our country the authorities and the judicial system show excessive tolerance towards the anti-Semitic and xenophobic abuses propagated by some politicians, among whom we find Călin Georgescu and Diana Şoşoacă. The statements of the two politicians over the past four years are not simple radical opinions thrown into the public space, but flagrant violations of the law, which prohibits the promotion of the cult of Ion Antonescu, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and the Legionary Movement, as well as the denial of the Holocaust.
Unfortunately, in the absence of firm measures, hate messages have infiltrated the electoral campaign and contaminated the democratic process. This is also noted in the report of the National Institute for Holocaust Studies in Romania "Elie Wiesel", produced for the period May 2024-April 2025, a document that warns that the public space and the online environment have been flooded with discriminatory discourses, with anti-Semitism, xenophobia and homophobia becoming weapons of the electoral campaign. The Institute's researchers clearly show that the inactivity of the authorities had direct effects on the political outcome, contributing to the rise of AUR as the second parliamentary force and to the consolidation of candidates with neo-legionary sympathies, including Călin Georgescu and Diana Şoşoacă. The Elie Wiesel Institute's report shows that it is not just about extremist rhetoric, but about a tacit complicity through the lack of action of state institutions, which preferred to postpone and minimize the seriousness of the phenomenon we are facing in our country.
This was also reported to us in the first part of the year by Marius Cazan, an expert at the Wiesel Institute, who stated, in an interview with the BURSA newspaper, that the legislation in force at that time - the one from 2002, updated in 2015 - is perfectly applicable and does not require changes, but only the will of prosecutors and authorities. The Elie Wiesel Institute specialist argued that ignorance or lack of serious analysis of the anti-Semitic nature of some manifestations led to prosecutors filing criminal cases and sending a devastating message: the fact that the law is not applied is tantamount to an invitation to normalize hatred. The result? A candidate - Călin Georgescu - who promoted anti-Semitism entered the second round of the presidential elections that were annulled by the CCR on December 6, and Romania's international image was compromised.
In practice, the authorities chose to apply the law regarding Călin Georgescu only when they felt threatened, that is, when he entered the second round of last year's presidential elections, at which point the Supreme Council for National Defense was convened, which produced some fast-forward evidence intended to later justify the decision of December 6, 2024 of the CCR by which the entire presidential election was canceled.
• Călin Georgescu, possible candidate for the presidential elections or for the position of general mayor of the Capital
If the judiciary - which today ardently defends its special pensions - had done its job on time, Călin Georgescu would never have reached the position of candidate for the presidential elections. In the absence of judicial action, it was necessary for the CSAT to invent things for which it has so far not presented any concrete, real evidence that would be validated by any court in the democratic world, the situation being practically created by the non-application of the law, a law that must be applied equally and continuously.
Politicians and the legal system believed that law enforcement is an instrument that serves at anything but justice. Then, frightened by what happened in the first round of last year's presidential elections, they set in motion an action aimed at preventing Călin Georgescu from becoming president. Normally, he would not have been able to run, if the law mentioned in the State Department report and the Elie Wiesel Institute report had been applied correctly.
Especially since Călin Georgescu's positions did not change either after the presidential elections were canceled or after his candidacy was banned for the presidential election that took place in May 2025. Georgescu remains a declared admirer of Ion Antonescu and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, continues to speak publicly about the alleged "heroization" of war criminals and to launch attacks on the West, insinuating conspiracy theories related to the cancellation of the elections and the involvement of American or French services.
The most recent statements in this regard are eloquent. Here is what Călin Georgescu said in front of the IPJ Ilfov headquarters, on August 18, 2025: "I believe that political life in Romania is a lie, a Pharisaism and a betrayal. I tell you: stop living in a lie! They lie, we know that they lie, they know that we know that they lie. It is time and it is necessary for us to understand that we have the responsibility of the ownership of terms. There is no such thing as witnessing a structural reform. It is just institutional robbery, a Phanariot yoke. (...) Viable solutions are: low taxes and duties so that the country can develop, to protect the Romanian entrepreneur, the Romanian peasant(...) High taxes and duties? Yes, but on the turnover of large corporations. (...) To protect education, pensioners, youth; to protect the past and the future, not otherwise. (...) To make a drastic reduction in the military budget, if it is not for your people. If it is for foreigners, I don't care".
Regarding the annulment of the presidential elections, on the same occasion, Georgescu specified: "As you have seen, the courageous Director of National Intelligence (ed. - this is Tulsi Gabbard, head of the DNI) demonstrated and clarified the situation of all those who fabricated the election file, with the so-called Russian interference, in 2016, through which President Donald Trump won honestly and fairly. I assure you that the file of the annulment of the elections in Romania is also on the table of the American secret services, with the perpetrators very clearly defined, high-ranking officials from the former Biden administration, together with their tools from Bucharest (...). And of course, I would not want to forget Macron who sooner or later will leave Romania with his tail between his legs".
In these conditions, of tolerance on the part of the authorities regarding Călin Georgescu, the statements published yesterday in the media by Ms. Laura-Iuliana Scântei, a judge at the CCR, who stated about the annulment of the 2024 presidential elections that the citizens' vote was not annulled, but the behavior of a certain candidate was sanctioned in the case of a single electoral process, a process that continued and was completed in May 2025. In other words, Călin Georgescu, if he no longer has the electoral behavior of last fall, is free to run for any other position in the state, freely elected, by vote. For example, Călin Georgescu can run for the City Hall of the Capital, for the mandate vacated by Nicuşor Dan, the current president of the country.
• The Şoşoacă case, another example of inaction by the judiciary and the authorities
The same example of inaction or slowness of the judicial system can be found in the case of MEP Diana Iovanovici-Şoşoacă, against whom there are several criminal complaints at various prosecutors' offices regarding her statements.
Diana Şoşoacă has long gone beyond the limits of simple radical speech: her public messages include anti-Semitic insults, glorification of the Legionary Movement and Holocaust denial, acts punishable by law. Instead of being held accountable, Şoşoacă remained free to run for office, organize "summer schools” with a legionary slant, and use social platforms to directly attack the United States and European institutions.
Can a MEP express herself unhindered in this way? Does the law not apply to Diana Şoşoacă? When will the state institutions apply the law in all the criminal complaints in which Şoşoacă is accused of anti-Semitism and promoting the Legionary Movement? The law will probably be applied only when we complain that we have again ended up in a situation because of a Russian plot.
Until then, Diana Şoşoacă is free to insult anything and anyone. Here is what she said after the US State Department report was published: "Lies, Trump! You are the biggest liar and the most anti-Romanian, including your State Department, and the US must be sued from Romania for lying. The Legionary Movement was the most important nationalist, patriotic and Christian movement that has not killed anyone!”.
The next day, on August 19, the media published information according to which activist Bogdan Burduşel woke up with a scandalous message from MEP Diana Şoşoacă, in the comments section of a video where she asked the authorities to take measures to stop her from promoting the legionary cult and glorifying the war criminal Ion Antonescu. Diana Şoşoacă felt offended and wrote, in response, the following message: "We don't give a f*ck about you, illiterate! UNCULTURAL, IMMECULATED! WRONG JEW! MARSHAL ION ANTONESCU IS A HERO!”. Later, according to the media, Diana Şoşoacă deleted her message, following the reactions received from other users.
Regarding this, we also mention that at the SOS summer school, which took place between July 31 and August 5, in a town in Prahova County, Diana Şoşoacă stated: "I think that what you will hear at this summer school will be shocking, but it will also teach some lessons, especially to the ladies and gentlemen prosecutors, who will have to define, instead of the legislator, the term legionnaire. If I think about it, legionnaire - law... legionnaire is a man of the law. Correct? If the law does not say, we have to give a definition. So, gentlemen prosecutors, I propose that you arrest all the lawmen, because they are all legionnaires.”
We note that Diana Şoşoacă has a criminal record because last year she commemorated the leader of the Legionary Movement Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, in Tâncăbeşti, under the conditions in which the legislation in force prohibits the public promotion of "the cult of persons guilty of committing crimes of genocide against humanity and war crimes” or of "fascist, legionary, racist or xenophobic ideas, conceptions or doctrines”.
• New entry - MP Dan Tanasă, spokesperson for AUR
Added to this picture is the most recent case: Dan Tanasă, AUR MP and spokesperson for the political party led by George Simion, recently instigated discrimination against foreign workers coming to Romania.
The media reported that on August 19, the AUR MP published a message on his Facebook page urging Romanians to stop accepting orders delivered by foreign couriers. "Refuse the order if it is not delivered by a Romanian. Stop encouraging the import of unskilled workers from Asia and Africa. Wake up!", wrote Dan Tanasă on Facebook. His post gathered over 2,000 comments and twice as many reactions in four hours. In the comments section, the parliamentarian also claimed: "A dictatorship is never installed alone, but in the applause of the weak-minded. The West is sinking under the Islamist wave, and Europeans are crying into their fists because they were not careful about the massive import of immigrants. I do not want this in Romania!".
We note that, in the last four years, 100,000 employees from non-EU states have been given the right to apply for a vacant job in Romania, in the context of the increasing shortage of personnel in fields such as HoReCa or construction.
Dan Tanasă's Facebook message - in which he asks Romanians to refuse orders delivered by Asian or African couriers - is not a simple opinion, but a clear incitement to hatred and discrimination, for which police officer Marian Godină has already filed a criminal complaint. Moreover, the National Council for Combating Discrimination has taken action to sanction such a slip-up, but it is not enough. We have reached the point where the delayed reaction of the authorities does not change the reality: xenophobic speech has become a tolerated and even politically capitalized electoral norm.
Under these conditions, the statement in the report of the "Elie Wiesel" Institute regarding the fact that the authorities' procrastination can be viewed, at a certain point, as a form of moral complicity, seems to have substance, especially since, through inaction, the Romanian state has contributed to the public legitimization of extremist messages that undermine democratic values. The direct consequence of this passivity was the delegitimization of the electoral process, the annulment of the presidential elections and the plunge of Romania into an unprecedented international image crisis.
The 2024 presidential elections would never have been annulled by the CCR, if the state institutions had done their duty and had applied the law to those who, under the guise of political discourse, chose to glorify war criminals and promote extremist ideologies. If Romania does not firmly assume the application of legislation on combating anti-Semitism and fascist ideologies, its democratic future will remain at the mercy of those who transform hatred and xenophobia into electoral tools.
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