Vladimir Mitev: There are two Romanias

Milena Milotinova, Bulgaria on Air TV, 8 March 2025

Milena Milotinova: Romanian authorities detained six people this week on charges of organising a criminal group and treason. The investigation found that they set up an organisation with a military structure and negotiated with Russian agents for Romania’s exit from NATO. We’re joined by journalist Vladimir Mitev now by video link.

Hello, colleague Mitev!

Hello!

What’s going on in Romania? How did these accusations come about? And in fact, what are the reactions to all that happened on Thursday?

The reactions are in different directions and I will try to explain why. Some people are reacting with satisfaction that measures are being taken against people who have far-right, anti-Semitic behaviour, and it is this accused group of people that you are talking about. But the other part looks more carefully at the facts and remains unconvinced by them. There is even a certain irony in some of the comments.

Because, for example, the brain of this thing you are talking about being caught and deconstructed is 101 years old. He’s a guy who’s been known to post videos with certain sovereigntist content. But he, for example, when he reads the proclamations of his “combat unit,” reads with a magnifying glass. That is, he does not give the impression of someone who actually has the power to take Romania out of NATO, as is claimed.

It was also interesting that on Thursday, while these accusations were being published, they were splashed on Hotnews, which is a widely read media outlet and a media outlet that has no sympathy for Georgescu. But other important media in Romania, which also have no sympathy for Georgescu and even oppose him, did not write anything about this case.

Why? How do you explain it?

Something is not quite right.

What is wrong? And in fact, what is the connection between Thursday’s arrests and Georgescu?

The link is the ideology of the people who were arrested and the ideology that Georgescu professes. It is, roughly speaking, sovereigntist, that is to say, it is a mélange of different ideas – these are old ideas from the 1980s of Romanian nationalism that are nowadays linked to opposition to Western Europe, to global capital and so on.

It’s also interesting that their organization, which has been dismantled this week, has been publishing their plans on the internet for months. It has websites and publishes its manifestos there. There are videos of the faces of these people coming out with certain proclamations. And it’s also strange because they haven’t been hiding at all. And it’s not clear whether they’ve taken any particular action, which is to say, one can be left with little doubt that these are some ex-military people who have been retired for a long time who need to do something with their spare time that gives them the sense that they’re being true to what they think is right.

But the indictment says at least what we read and what has been published in the media, that according to the police, the members of this group have repeatedly contacted agents of a foreign power, both on the territory of Romania and on the territory of the Russian Federation

Yes, this has obviously been proven, and it is no coincidence that the Russian military attaché was expelled.

There is no disputing the facts on the part of those Romanians who I said were reacting with scepticism to the case. It’s just a strange case. It is strange for people who want to overthrow the regime in Romania to create a state called Gethia with a Council of Elders and various other original state institutions.

They have detailed this plan of theirs for a future state structure. They have written the constitution of the future state, which sounds like the 10 Commandments, but does not sound like a real constitution. The structure of this future state has been published online. That just does not sound serious to some people in Romania. For others, of course, it is very serious, insofar as this ideology, which is far right-wing, has been very much on the rise recently. It also has a connection with Donald Trump in some way. That is why I say that there are two opinions in Romania.

I mean, Romania is divided about what is happening now. And in terms of Georgescu, where there was also alleged Russian meddling, at least according to official Bucharest, how are things? The media are talking about 40% support for Georgescu if he runs. Will he run again? Can we rely on the credibility of this information about 40% support for Georgescu?

I think there is indeed a sentiment that is in favour of Georgescu. But I don’t expect him to be allowed to participate in the elections. It’s just that a lot of sins have been piled up against him. And it seems to me that this intervention of the prosecutor’s office, where he was accused of quite serious crimes – against the constitutional order, or false declarations related to the elections, declarations about the financial dimensions of his campaign – these are quite serious accusations. I do not expect a person with such charges, even though he has not been convicted, to be allowed to participate easily in the elections. Rather, it seems to me that some other candidate could replace him if it so happens that he does not participate.

There are rumors that his wife might even be a candidate, it could be a famous actor, Dan Puric and so on. That is, the candidates could be people who have a positive image among these sovereignist circles. It seems to me that what Georgescu has been doing lately, including his declarations in some direction against NATO and the EU, sounding quite critical of them, reduces the chances of his candidacy. Perhaps he will play some other role in the future.

What is the mood in society in general? Is there really such a mood in Romania to leave the EU and NATO or not?

I think that Romania fell into a certain crisis in a period when there was this kind of river stabilocracy, i.e. the two big parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, ruled together and merged with the state. It was a time when there were no particular reforms. At that time, a section of the people who were isolated from access to power and resources were somehow attuned by sovereigntist undercurrents, felt alienated and developed an attitude against both the status quo and the system.

This attitude can be seen both in the diaspora and in Romania. But in Romania it is perhaps more visible, not so much in the big cities, where the pro-European tendency is stronger in Romania, but perhaps among people who are in smaller populated places, more isolated from access to power. They are really, in a way, perhaps becoming more violent.

It also matters whether they are religious, because there is generally a conservative attitude among the Orthodox Church to some extent, or among the Protestant churches. So there is a mix of people, from different groups, for whom the coming to power of Donald Trump is associated with some hope for a positive change of the balances in Romanian society.

And this is perhaps where we need to talk about the fact that there are two Romanias to some extent. One Romania, which we perhaps know better in Bulgaria, the one of the big cities is of people who perhaps work for corporations that are linked economically to Western investors, perhaps work in the NGO sector, which is quite strong in Romania. These people are also middle class. They develop through connections with Europe, with the West, and they are people with resources.

And there is a Romania of people who somehow have not been able to touch that model of development so much through foreign capital. They naturally rely more on networks that may be different in nature. Some call them clientelistic sometimes. It may matter to these people that they are members of a Protestant church or an Orthodox church, it may matter that they are in some Masonic networks, and so on. It’s just that there are different networks in Romania, and not all of them share this model of development, which is probably more related to Western European investment and cultural affiliation with liberal values.

And accordingly, when the power changes in the White House, when there is a division between the US and Western Europe in the West itself, in the Romanian society itself, it increases the polarization, because the stigma upon those people who have more sovereignist beliefs is dismantled. And so the contradictions are becoming fiercer.

To what extent is inflation, Romania’s debts, influencing these sentiments?

I think this is also important, because it is inevitable that in a year when it is already under way and in which some measures have already been taken relating to the adjustment of the budget and the macroeconomic balance, these measures will be distributed differently after different people. Obviously, people who have resources will not feel the burden of these spending cuts or tax rises to the same extent. People who do not have resources will be more affected. 

And that also matters, because there is a coalition in power at the moment that continues the trend of the major parties cooperating. And the people that I’ve already talked about feeling more marginalized, more excluded from access to power, are turning violently against the system. You have a view that the old parties are the system. And that already explains why that’s how people vote and why some sovereignist parties get a lot of support.

The presidential election is in May, right?

Yes.

How many candidates have already been announced?

That’s also an interesting question, and I’m glad you brought it up. As far as I am aware, the registration of candidates is due to close on 15 March, and there is still a relatively large amount of uncertainty about who they will be.

There are a lot of people whose names have been announced. It is known who the ruling coalition candidate is, in principle, although he has not yet registered. It is known that the mayor of Bucharest is willing to participate. We shall have to see which candidates the sovereigntists nominate. Although there is only one week to go before the deadline for submitting documents, we do not yet know who the official candidates are. They have to go through a certain procedure – submission of documents, validation, etc. (the interview was recorded before Nicușor Dan and Călin Geogresu filed their candidatures for president of Romania on Friday, 7 March 2025 – note of the editor)

OK, we will keep an eye on it. And we’ll have you back on our TV show. Thank you very much, journalist Vladimir Mitev, for a look at what’s going on in Romania and the arrests there this week on Thursday.

Photo: (source: screenshot)

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