'Our position is very clear. It's a Russian war against Ukraine,' says Simion
In an Euronews and Euronews Romania exclusive, the AUR party leader, who won the first round of the Romanian presidential election repeat on Sunday, said Russia is waging war on Ukraine, but that Ukraine must respect international treaties and the rights of national minorities.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/09/our-position-is-very-clear-its-a-russian-war-against-ukraine-says-simion
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In an Euronews and Euronews Romania exclusive, the AUR party leader, who won the first round of the Romanian presidential election repeat on Sunday, said Russia is waging war on Ukraine, but that Ukraine must respect international treaties and the rights of national minorities.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/09/our-position-is-very-clear-its-a-russian-war-against-ukraine-says-simion
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00welcome to the europe conversation i have spoken with the first runner in the romanian
00:13presidential elections george simeon he says that if he will be president romania will cut
00:19the help for ukraine he also said that if he will be president he will appoint as his prime minister
00:26colin georgescu the person because of whom the former presidential elections in romania were
00:33canceled mr simeon you are very close to the presidency now and there is a crucial moment
00:42for romania and for europe you've been labeled many times and as anti-ukrainian pro-russian
00:51eurosceptic let's clear this now and please tell me how do you calibrate your message to europe
00:58to its leaders and how do you label yourself i'm a young leader i'm 38 years old i'm a democrat
01:09this is why i was opposing the annulment of the elections here in romania you cannot do this
01:16in eu member state just because you do not like who won now i am a euro realist i'm one of the three
01:26vice presidents of ecr party european conservatives and reformists the party of georgia meloni our
01:34president is mateusz morawiecki the former law and justice prime minister in poland we want a europe of
01:41nations and i am the person who fought the most before entering the politics with russian propaganda
01:52the our problems with ukraine is not about hatred about opposing something it's about ukrainians that
02:00must respect international treaties and the right of national minorities we have half a million of romanian
02:08speakers in ukraine and they don't have the right to school and to church this this is why our position
02:18towards the russian war is very clear it's a russian war against ukraine against all international treaties
02:28and our hope and prayers go towards a peaceful solution of the trump administration in in this region
02:42because escalating the clock conflict is not the answer you've taken a lot of themes let's take one by one
02:50so anti-ukraine yes or not no pro-russian absolutely not eurosceptic you're a realist what does it mean it
03:01means that we do not want a super federal state at european level we want a european union that goes back
03:11to its founding fathers to the origins then to adenauer and the goal as an economic space
03:18uh for the free circulation of persons and merchandise and we want more prerogatives to the 27 member state
03:28it's not uh to unelected eu bureaucrats then how will you work with mrs von der leyen if you are elected
03:36i saw how our leader georgia meloni works with ursula von der leyen even if they do not share the same ideology
03:46and even if ursula von der leyen made harsh statements before italian elections where fratelli d'italia
03:54won fair and square we are winning this battle all we are asking for is fair and free elections and we will respect all our
04:03all our commitments at eu and nato level then why do you label them then unlegitimate
04:11i said un elected bureaucrats because they are not voted uh by the people inside the european union and
04:21there are many tentatives to change the eu treaties without going to the vote of the citizens for me
04:28democracy is very important this is the key aspect of the current repeated romanian presidential elections
04:37so i would like to go back to the people and to respect the will of the people you know president trump
04:46was winning the elections in the united states and the supreme court judges could have banned him
04:54like it happened in romania like it happens in iran and in authoritarian regimes romania is nato's crucial
05:03eastern flank ally and tell me if you will be president if you will continue the same strategy
05:09and how will you keep romania safe for us being a member of nato is vital we sacrificed a lot for
05:19uh being admitted to nato uh we invested a lot and we spent uh our defense
05:28spending are quite big so we want to be along with poland and the baltic states the eastern flank of nato and
05:39we want to invest more in our defense spending we want a nato led by the united states it's a time of
05:48massive geopolitical change in eastern europe and also all over the world and also in europe and
05:57now they are ongoing trump put in negotiations you have referred to that already how will you work with
06:03mr trump to south garu mania we are the natural allies of the gop in the united states we are perfectly
06:12aligned ideologically with the maga movement so as georgia maloney does we will work very well with
06:22the trump administration we have many friends we know each other and we will collaborate and we will be
06:28serious partner for the us on the eastern flank of nato we have elections in may on the 18th of may
06:35uh both in romania and poland and we hope to have two pro maga presidents both in euchrest and in
06:43worship and in romania interest for what is to keep all three pillars of our security strategy one
06:51member of the european union second member of nato the strongest military alliance in the history and
06:58free the strategic partnership with the us can you please elaborate a little more on this because mr trump
07:06after he took the presidency he had a very offensive policy and he ruled for the economic taxes
07:19he excluded us from visa waiver why do you think it's more in romania's interest than in
07:25usa usa interest to work with trump more than with the eu we want to work with all our allies but not
07:34on the same level one does not exclude the other now the tariff war is not intended towards the eu
07:44countries mainly it's intended to stop the chinese domination this is a topic for us we must produce more
07:53in our countries in the u.s in romania in italy so our idea at the ecr level at european level is to
08:03maintain the eu u.s unity the transatlantic unity to maintain the free world as it is who will you work
08:14with in the european council mostly who will be your allies we have three prime ministers that are from
08:22uh european conservatives and reformists uh the belgian prime minister the czech prime minister fiala and
08:29georgia meloni the italian prime minister what about putin because we didn't speak about him at all
08:35if you are president would you go to moscow for the 9th of may or to kiev with the other european leaders
08:42i would go to rome i would go to rome i would go to washington i'm not interested for now in going to
08:52kiev until the ukrainians will respect the romanian minority uh there and it's excluded uh it's off the
09:00table totally to go to a parade on the 9th of may in moscow celebrating the death of our grand fathers
09:11please tell me if we are we are part of naito and if we will need in the case that you are president
09:21to further help ukraine what do you do we do not have this decision at nato level and the leader the
09:30most important country in nato wants to stop this war and to make peace so we will respect but we don't know
09:40when the peace will be we will respect our international partnerships or everything that
09:46we obliged for everything signed signed up with u.n with nato with the european union so you will
09:54continue to help ukraine this is not an obligation so far as i know and i will not help ukraine until ukraine
10:04manages to respect the right of the romanians living in the sovereign territory of ukraine so if you are
10:11president you're cutting this out yes i said it numerous times the solution is a ceasefire and peace
10:19negotiation de-escalating the conflict and we must follow the interest of the romanian nation not of other
10:28nations that are not part of the european union and of nato and nato is a defensive alliance you
10:36are banned in ukraine and moldova will you change the situation probably after i will win on the 19th of
10:43may these false in interdictions will disappear because it is in kisinau and kiev's interest to work
10:53with us i want to work with them on several topics and i want to have a good neighborhood relations
11:03please tell me how will you impose mr georgescu as a prime minister i will not impose i'm not
11:10a tyrannic totalitarian leader i'm a democrat leader so if the romanian people will want mr georgescu
11:20at the leadership there are several constitutional ways referendum snap election a majority
11:27in the parliament but we will see this after i'm in the presidential seat last question
11:33uh who will you phone first if you are elected as the president of romania you mean besides my wife and
11:43besides my mother of course from the international leaders probably the secretary of state marco rubio
11:52thank you thank you very much mr simeon thank you