“Heo Kyeong-young’s election-level scandal” TikTok man wins first presidential election, ‘this country’… What’s going on? : ZUM News

Romanian presidential election candidate Cullen Gheorgescu riding a white horse. It emphasizes his strong appearance, as he is good at horseback riding and martial arts. [컬린 제오르제스쿠 틱톡]

[헤럴드경제=김유진 기자] The person who surprisingly took first place in the first round of the presidential election held in Romania on the 24th (local time) was known as Cullen Georgescu (62), an independent far-right member.

On this day, Britain’s Financial Times (FT) reported on the Romanian presidential election and pointed out ‘populism’, saying, “It is a sign that Trump-style populism is spreading throughout Europe.”

As a result of the vote count, Gheorgescu took the lead with 22.95% of the votes, beating Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (20%) and Elena Lasconi (19.17%) of the Union for National Salvation (USR). As no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, the two candidates, Gheorgescu and Ciolacu, will face each other again for the presidency in a runoff election on December 8.

Georgescu, a far-right, pro-Russian person, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “true leader” and argued that “military support to Ukraine must be stopped.” Romania is a country bordering Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia. Meanwhile, Western countries appear to be watching the rapid rise of Gheorgescu, who also expressed negative opinions about maintaining NATO membership, which made his country a member of the Western countries.

Cullen Gheorgescu ran as an independent candidate in the Romanian presidential election. [AP=연합]

Gheorgescu, who became famous through TikTok politics, is a former bureaucrat who worked at the Romanian Ministry of Environment from 1999 to 2012. After serving as Romania’s representative on the UN’s National Committee for the Environment, he entered politics as a member of the far-right party Solidarity Alliance. However, he is a troublemaker who was expelled from the party for saying that political leader Ion Antonescu, who was sentenced to death for participating in the massacre of Jews during World War II, was a hero. According to the FT, when combining the votes recorded by far-right candidates in this presidential election, more than one-third of voters supported the pro-Russian, anti-European Union (EU) line.

Regarding Gheorgescu’s propaganda, Romanian historian Ion Ionicer said, “This is a victory for TikTok,” adding, “There is a possibility of winning just through social media without a political party.” In fact, Gheorgescu, an independent, built public awareness by posting horseback riding and judo videos on TikTok instead of offline propaganda campaigns mobilizing party members.

Meanwhile, Romania has a dual administration system, with the president in charge of foreign affairs and defense, and the actual authority to run state affairs is exercised by the prime minister. Along with the results of this presidential election, changes in Romanian politics are expected to continue in the general election scheduled for December 1.

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