George Simion: Stop the Steal

Quick Hit: May 17, 2025

In the last 48 hours of the Romanian election candidate George Simion has started spreading a new narrative - that the election is being rigged by the Moldovan government.

With polls open in Romania’s election and early numbers showing massive turnout in the diaspora, George Simion made a series of posts on facebook and X claiming that massive voter fraud was occurring in Moldova.

Photo source George Simion facebook

Photo source George Simion on X

Photo source George Simion on X

Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the accusation saying that:

"Such messages with false information and accusations represent serious and flagrant attempts to manipulate voters and undermine the free and fair nature of the elections”

They go on to note that they are in touch with diplomatic missions abroad and that voting is proceeding "under good conditions."

Moldovan government spokesman Daniel Voda responded as well saying:

"Moldovan citizens with Romanian citizenship are free people. They have the guaranteed right to vote according to their own beliefs. We are happy to see the civic responsibility they demonstrate and their active participation in the vote. Out of respect for the voters, we urge all political actors to refrain from accusations, which only serve to compromise this democratic exercise. We encourage everyone to go out to vote and make their voices heard. Without fear,"

Stop the Steal

Simion’s team has not provided any evidence of fraud or made any attempt to back up these allegations with facts. Romanian outlet G4Media reports that Simion began making allegations of fraud around May 12th when polls were published showing that the race had tightened to within 4 points. He made these accusation on his social media as well as in interviews with MAGA influencers such as Jack Posobiec and on Steve Bannon’s podcast.

On Bannon’s show, Simion states that he will win by a “landslide” unless they “steal 2 million votes” by messing with “the software.” In other interviews he has increased the number of allegedly stolen votes to around 5 million. As early as May 12th he identified Moldova as one of the 3-4 locations where major fraud could be staged against him. But generally his allegations were vague until yesterday when he released the series of social media posts directly alleging that the Moldovan government was stealing the election.

Sovereigntists Unite

Over the last days of the campaign George Simion chose to forgo traditional campaigning and instead fly around Europe gathering the endorsements of far-right politicians. In addition to appearing in Poland, Simion has gathered endorsements from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, France’s Marine Le Pen and a host of less well known figures including one Italian general. He also got an endorsement from MAGA US Congressman Andy Ogles.

While in Brussels, Simion responded to a question from a Romanian journalist by suggesting that the journalist was a supporter of Nicușor Dan saying:

"you have a candidate you support, he's autistic, poor thing!"

Dan responded by calling it “unacceptable” to use autism as an insult.

In addition to far-right European MEGA figures and MAGA influencers such as Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec, Simion also got an endorsement from Russian fascist “philosopher” Aleksandr Dugin.

Dugin, who has at times been called “Putin’s Brain” espouses an extremely radical, militaristic view of Russia’s past and future glory which envisions the “Russian world” reconstituting an empire across Eurasia. In his piece on Substack, Dugin praises Simion’s campaign comparing him to Germany’s AfD and Donald Trump and heralding the rise of the sovereigntists as a sort of new world order. He also opined on the Moldova-Romania relationship writing:

“Moldova’s current president, Maia Sandu — a globalist and Soros¹ appointee — is the direct opposite of sovereigntist Simion. In this context, a total lack of understanding between them is inevitable. I would not even rule out the possibility that Romania may soon become closer to Russia than Moldova, which was once so dear and familiar to us².”

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Author’s Note: No, you read that right - Alexandr Dugin is on Substack. Actually, if you search “Moldova” on Substack you are going to find a lot of extremist Russian, and even Moldovan, political figures using the platform to communicate with an English speaking audience. They plug into a massive far-right ecosystem on the platform exchanging guest posts with MAGA influencers, neo-Nazis, conspiracy theorists and others. Dugin was recently interviewed by Glenn Greenwald in a Substack crossover between their pages. In opposition to this fever swamp you will also find Moldova Matters in that search. Not only is Moldova Matters the only newsletter seeking to cover Moldovan news objectively, outside of Substack this newsletter stands as the #1 dedicated source of English language news about the country. Even so, we have fewer readers than Dugin and his ilk by orders of magnitude. If you value Moldova Matters, and believe as I do that this is a critical time for people to get real information about this very important country - please share this newsletter with 2-3 friends today. If just a fraction of you help spread the word we can overtake goons like Dugin and make a real difference in fighting back against the propaganda being blasted out by Kremlin linked groups. Thank you and sorry for the long aside.

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The Stakes Continue to Ratchet Up for Moldova

Simion’s “stop the steal” style messaging push has clear echos from America’s recent history. With unfounded allegations³ he is laying out a series of groups that he identifies as enemies while laying the groundwork for conspiracy theories if he looses.

The pivot towards attacking Moldova highlights a few clear points. Firstly, Simion views Moldova as a threat. At the time of writing over 50,000 Moldovan-Romanian dual citizens have voted in the second round⁴. This is more than voted in the first round in total - and the polls are open through Sunday night. With Moldovan voters overwhelmingly rejecting Simion in the first round this high turnout could prove decisive in a close election. Secondly, Simion is clearly targeting Maia Sandu as an ideological enemy. Dugin called her the “direct opposite of sovereigntist Simion,” and it is reasonably likely that Simion thinks this as well.

Moreover, Maia Sandu probably agrees. I wrote last week that President Sandu is gambling against the odds by taking a strong stand in this election. The consequences for Moldova if Simion wins and is able to consolidate power are grave. Now, this threat has now increased substantially. With Simion’s conspiracy theories he has painted the Moldovan government as an enemy - a major problem if he wins. He has also laid the groundwork for a conspiracy theory blaming Moldova if he looses.

In Simion’s chosen framing of globalists vs sovereigntists⁵ he and Sandu are indeed on different sides. The stakes are high for Moldova in this election. Perhaps Maia Sandu and PAS anticipated this and chose to gamble in opposing Simion. Or, perhaps they realized that there is no middle ground or compromise with movements like this, and that given a series of bad options the best choice is simply to do the right thing. Whatever the case Romania’s vote will have a massive impact on Moldova.

We’ll come back with updates after the polls close.

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This issue of Moldova Matters is supported by Rotary Club Cosmopolitan — Club Secretary Luc Vocks invites you to join an English-speaking (mostly) expat club that meets weekly to hear from engaging speakers and enjoy some light networking. If you're curious to learn more or would like to attend a meeting as a guest, feel free to contact l.vocks@developmentaid.org.

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1. It should go without saying with a fascist like Dugin, but his use of “globalist” and “Soros” is an unambiguous callback to the “international jew”

2. Moldova’s rejection of Simion is a pretty good indication of how people feel about Russia’s “dear and familiar” feelings about the country.

3. These allegations are unfounded - but it is worth noting that the first iteration of this presidential election was canceled last November. That gives Simion fertile ground to make accusations and a receptive audience of voters who were already largely of a “throw the bums out” mindset towards the traditional parties. That’s a toxic brew to say the least.

4. That’s 50,000 who have voted in Moldova. There are far more Moldovan-Romanian dual citizens in Romania and around Europe as well. Collectively these voters are a major electoral block.

5. One might more reasonably call this “democracy vs fascism / authoritarianism / kleptocracy”