Fdi with the Aur deniers: the connection between the Melonians and the pro-Putin party

The two flags together, one next to the other, and the militants behind them, smiling on the sunny Milanese Sunday. The flags are those of the Brothers of Italy and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Aur), a Romanian far-right party, Novax, Trumpian and Holocaust denier. The Italian-Romanian “patriotic” gazebo was set up on Sunday in the Lombardy capital. “Present this afternoon with a gazebo in Piazza Santa Maria del Suffragio. Constantly active in the area!! Forward!”, wrote the militants of Gioventù Nazionale, FdI’s youth organisation, on Facebook. Another message was posted by the Melonian city councilor Francesco Rocca, whose political activity began with National Youth (today he is a member of the national assembly of the party that leads the government). “A beautiful moment of community and territory in Piazza Santa Maria del Suffragio. We thank the Friends who participated. After you!”.

But let’s see who the Romanian “friends” are in the square with the brothers and sisters of Italy. Founded in 2019 by George Simion e Claudius Tarziu, Aur – which defines itself as “nationalist”, “patriotic”, “conservative” and “unionist” – in 2020 obtained 9% of the votes and entered parliament with 33 deputies. Covid is the driving force, with Romanian nationalists openly taking anti-scientific, no-mask and no-vax positions (“the mask kills” was the slogan).

Also active with the same name in Moldova, Aur is anti-European Union and pro-Russia, it is against same-sex marriage (the co-founder, Claudiu Tarziu, 47 years old, a former journalist, was a member of the Coalition for the family that, in 2018, called a referendum to ban gay marriage) and is the “only Romanian party that supports Donald Trump” – words of Tarziu herself. There are strong ties with the ultra-conservative circles of the powerful Romanian Orthodox Church, which organized religious ceremonies during the pandemic, and with the neo-legionnarist associations.

There has been a lot of talk about Aur in 2022: with a press release, Romanian nationalists declared that subjects such as the history of the Holocaust are to be considered “minor topics” for students. A reductionist and denialist attitude. The Bucharest Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation.

The link between FdI and AUR in Europe is the Melonian MEP and head of delegation Carlo Fidanza who last year received a plea deal of 1 year and 4 months (with a suspended sentence) for corruption. Last January Fidanza participated in an event in Lodi during which “with our Romanian friends from Aur we are talking about the Europe we want to build together with patriotic, conservative and identity forces. A Europe that returns to giving value to peoples and nations, which puts security, family, work and freedom back at the centre. Our ideas blow and make the flags of all European nations wave high. After you!”.