George Simion’s rise to power would endanger the ethnic Hungarian community living in Romania, according to Hungarian political analyst Zsolt Pászkán.
Simion, the leader of the Romanian nationalist AUR party, won the first round of the presidential elections convincingly, and could be elected president following the second round on May 18th.
While the presidential office does not hold much power, the nationalist politician is still the “biggest threat” to the Hungarian community in Romania, says Pászkán.
Simion has been known for his fierce, aggressive anti-Hungarian rhetoric, and has advocated for abolishing Hungarian-language schools and the use of Hungarian in the public sector.
As president, he would be able to veto laws that benefit the country’s ethnic minorities, and if his party, AUR, which is currently the most popular political force, were to come to power, they would be able to inflict even more damage.
According to Pászkán, EU institutions would not interfere, as they never tends to when it comes to ethnic minority issues. Simion and AUR would be attacked only if they started to pursue an anti-Ukraine course.
