The first round of the presidential elections caused major waves not only because of the unexpected results, but also because these results could completely reconfigure Romania's domestic political scene.
The results of the election caught many by surprise: the winner of the first round is a lesser-known politician, Calin Georgescu, who was proposed as prime minister years ago by the opposition, establishment-critical and anti-Hungarian Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). The second place winner was also a surprise: Elena Lasconi, head of the opposition, progressive Save Romania Union (USR)
Political uncertainty increasing
While there is still complete uncertainty around the first round of last Sunday's presidential election, voters will be going to the polls again on December 1 to decide the composition of the Parliament.
Although everyone is still preoccupied with the heat and abuses surrounding the presidential election, at the moment the most important thing from the point of view of the Hungarian community would be for everyone to focus on the parliamentary elections,
Zsolt Paszkan, an expert at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, told Magyar Nemzet.
The expert said that in the charged mood, participation rates are expected to be high among Romanians, therefore the participation of a large number of the Hungarian minority population in Sunday's voting would be extremely important.
In addition, it is also emerging that the balance of power between strongly and less anti-Hungarian circles is likely to be very close.
All Hungarians are needed
– Rendkívül fontos lenne, hogy egy minél erősebb magyar frakció jelenjen meg a későbbi tárgyalásokon és hogy a magyar lista hatékonyabban képviselje a magyar érdeket – hangsúlyozta Pászkán Zsolt, emlékeztetve:
"It is critical for as strong a Hungarian faction as possible to be present in the subsequent negotiations and for the ethnic Hungarian list to represent the community's interests more effectively," the expert emphasized, noting that
although the party name appearing on the ballot is the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ), this list also includes the Hungarian Alliance of Transylvania (EMSZ/AMT) and the now merged Hungarian Civic Party (PCM).
Anti-Hungarian candidates have become stronger, their support is more than 37 percent, and they will probably reach 40 percent in the Parliament. We have to protect the community, but this requires national minority Hungarians to gain positions for their representatives so that we can act against the anti-Hungarians. If we are not there, if we are weakened, it will be impossible to defend ourselves and protect the Hungarian community in Romania,
Kelemen Hunor, the president of RMDSZ/UDMR, said in an interview for Magyar Nemzet.
Georgescu is a dark horse
The expert also said that it is worth considering that while Elena Lasconi has been an active politician in the past years, Calin Georgescu was not in the public eye. However, it is very difficult to say anything definitive about him based on his own videos and TikTok posts.
Lasconi has had some bad moves, for example, regarding the proposals for territorial reorganization, which her party submitted during the campaign and which are extremely detrimental to the Hungarian community,
the expert pointed out.
According to the expert, it can be said that Lasconi is more anti-Hungarian, as it is not really known what Calin Georgescu thinks about the Hungarians. He did not comment either negatively or positively on the matter, and his personality is not particularly important, since he does not even have a party.
He is in essence a battering ram, behind whom are people like George Simion, Dan Tanasa and all the dark figures who have made the lives of Transylvanian Hungarians miserable in recent years, from the Valea Uzului (Uz Valley) scandals, to the painting over of Hungarian-language local place name signs and the insulting of sports fans,
the expert of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs concluded.
