Zelensky is a ‘semi-dictator’ – Romanian election frontrunner

The Ukrainian leader puts his own interests ahead of those of his country, Calin Georgescu has said

Calin Georgescu, a Romanian politician whose first-round victory in the presidential vote was overturned by the nation’s Constitutional Court, has branded Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky a “semi-dictator,” who is afraid of holding an election and keeps sending young men to “hell” on the battlefield.

Georgescu, who is a vocal opponent of Western support for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia, said in an interview with Realitatea Plus broadcaster on Thursday that he has “all the empathy and respect” for the Ukrainian people, but he also has issues with “corruption and the false attitude” of the politicians in Kiev.

“I would like to ask the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry how many cases of high-level corruption there have been in Ukraine since the war began. How much European money has been stolen by them through a European and implicitly Romanian attempt to help Ukraine?” he stressed.

The Romanian election frontrunner lashed out at Zelensky, saying that he has “a problem with semi-dictators who put their own interests and those of the group they represent before the national interest.”

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Ukraine ‘an invented state’ – Romanian election frontrunner

“Why does Zelensky, like [Romanian President Klaus] Iohannis, not allow free elections? Are they afraid? How many families have sent their children to the hell of the battlefield to never return? How many times has Zelensky asked for dialogue before asking for weapons? Never!” he insisted.

Zelensky remains in power in Ukraine despite his term having officially expired in May of last year. He canceled the presidential vote, citing the martial law that he had imposed due to the ongoing conflict. He also refuses to cancel his own 2022 decree banning him from negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Georgescu also defended the comments he’d made earlier this week that Ukraine is a “an invented state,” which will be fragmented as part of a peace deal with Moscow.

“The fact that Ukraine is a state founded at the will of the great powers is a historical fact. It should not be considered a tendentious or defamatory statement,” he noted.

In November, Georgescu unexpectedly garnered 23% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election in Romania. However, the Constitutional Court later annulled the results, citing intelligence documents alleging “irregularities” in his campaign.

READ MORE: Zelensky lacks legitimacy to sign any deal – Putin

The Romanian government has blamed Russia for being behind the interference scheme despite the fact that the source of funding for the Euroskeptic and anti-NATO politician’s controversial social media campaign has been concretely identified as the country's pro-Western National Liberal Party (PNL), which had apparently tried to undermine another candidate this way.

Georgescu currently leads in opinion polls ahead of the upcoming election re-run in May, and is projected to win 38% of the vote.