A Pope and a President
It’s all about votes around the network this week, be they political or papal.
As we speak, of course, the eyes of the world are trained on the Vatican following Thursday night’s announcement. Elsewhere, in Romania, the first round of the presidential election last Sunday (4 May) saw a right-wing nationalist wipe the floor with all the other candidates.
Simion surges ahead
So, who is this new Romanian frontrunner George Simion? Well, he is against providing military support to Ukraine, holds a certain scepticism towards the EU and openly admires Donald Trump. And he won a resounding victory in this first round of the presidential election – more than 40 per cent of the vote.
Latvijas Radio asks Romanian political analyst Radu Delicote for his take on Simion’s success.
Radu Delicote, Romanian Political Analyst (in English):
“He managed to win the diaspora's hearts and minds on the one hand, and on the other he was still perceived, although being party president, he was still perceived as an anti-establishment candidate.”
Indeed, one of the keys to the second round will be the vote of the diaspora: the five or so million Romanians living abroad, representing a fifth of the country’s population.
Surprisingly, given his very Eurosceptic rhetoric, George Simion won over 60 per cent of these people’s votes, with much higher support from Romanians living in Western European countries than from those based abroad in Eastern Europe. This may indicate a strong socioeconomic element, since in Western Europe, many members of the Romanian diaspora belong to the working class.
This poll is actually a re-run of the presidential election held back in November, which was won by extremely outspoken far-right outsider Câlin Georgescu, but subsequently annulled following allegations of campaign fraud and Russian interference.
This latest campaign has taken place in a context of political instability and major protests against the annulment of the previous result. Many Romanians are questioning the legitimacy of Georgescu’s annulment – not to mention his barring from standing again. Simion was able to use this crisis to his own ends, says Delicote.
Radu Delicote, Romanian Political Analyst (in English):
“I really think that he managed to communicate and even serve very well the wave of discontent which was created after Georgescu was banned from running for a second time.”
In a live discussion on Radio România, sociologist Dan Jurcan described the political sentiments at play in Romania right now.
Dan Jurcan, Sociologist (in Romanian):
“There is a certain kind of energy in society that was roused in November 2024, when Călin Georgescu was elected. The elections were cancelled, more frustration was fuelled, and sovereignism, so-called sovereignism, did not subside. On the contrary, it previously lay somewhere between 27 and 37 per cent, if we add up the November votes of Georgescu and Simion. It now exceeds 40 per cent! There is frustration, anger, in society. This is an anger directed against the current governing coalition, which in fact no longer exists, but the main parties. […] Many people between 18 and 50 years old, people on low incomes, with less education, no longer feel represented by the current political parties.”
In round two on 18 May, Simion will be up against the centrist, independent mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, who secured just 21 per cent of the vote in this first round. So far the Romanian left has been reluctant to back Dan, but this may change – especially given the suggestion that Simion could install the radical Georgescu as prime minister if he comes out on top once again.
Political scientist George Jiglău stressed, in the same Radio România programme, that such an eventuality could lead to yet more political upheaval.
George Jiglău, Political Scientist (in Romanian):
“If George Simion, who has made some promises regarding the prime minister, wins, early elections might become a plausible option. Because there might not be a majority in Parliament to support a government with Călin Georgescu as prime minister. If Nicuşor Dan comes good, though, this would be a sign to the other parties that, for better or worse, society – at least the majority of the electorate – do not wish to deviate radically from our current trajectory.”
Ramifications for Europe?
This election is playing out against a backdrop of rising nationalism in the European Union. And a Simion victory could clearly serve to strengthen the Eurosceptic faction in Brussels, spearheaded by the Hungarian and Slovak prime ministers.
Giorgio Comai is a researcher at the Transeuropa Balkans and Caucasus Observatory (OBCT), a think tank based in northern Italy. He speaks to Radio 24 about the concerns this raises in the capital of Europe.
Giorgio Comai, Researcher at the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (in Italian):
"Yes, there are concerns. For his part, Simion has sometimes tried to temper his comments, sometimes using Georgescu’s name to maintain an ambiguous position, to avoid taking a clear stand. He tries to assert his proximity to other European players, first and foremost Brothers of Italy, one example of a party with somewhat similar visions that he hopes to stand alongside at European level. But, of course, there are clearly major concerns, because while [all the options] were once resolutely pro-European, now they are often ambiguous or reflect a very different vision of the European Union."
The Romanian presidential election is reminiscent of a Mexican soap opera, political observer Tarmo Jüristo tells Kuku Raadio. Yet, he adds, since Romania is a large country on the eastern flank of Europe and one of the newest member states, what is unfolding there matters.
Tarmo Jüristo, Political Observer (in Estonian):
“What is at stake is whether Romania will continue on its path in the EU. Just recently, they have taken a step forward with Schengen. […] But it could go the way it went in Georgia, where the government that came to power decided, if not to make a formal U-turn, at least to come into conflict with the EU’s central policy line. […] It is a question of whether or not the core of Europe, so to speak, is going to be more closely bound, more united.”
Jüristo even suggests that if newer member states are seen to turn their back on core European principles and values, as Hungary has already done, this will further reduce the accession chances of new EU hopefuls.
https://kuku.pleier.ee/uudised/rumeenia-tulevikustsenaariumid
Voting in the Vatican
Meanwhile, at the end of the day on Thursday, white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, bringing the conclave of Roman Catholic cardinals to a close in what feels like the blink of an eye!
Having received the required two-thirds of the 133 votes on offer, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was named the 267th sovereign pontiff. The 69-year-old American, who has spent decades of his life working in Peru, will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
This was a surprisingly quick decision from the Vatican, as the cardinals had only been holed up since Wednesday afternoon. While the last two conclaves, in 2005 and 2013, also only lasted two days apiece, all previous ones have dragged on longer.
Leo XIV faces a momentous challenge: that of unifying the Catholic Church, which is divided between the more traditional ‘conservatives’ and the ‘progressives’, such as the late Pope Francis.
In the run-up to the vote, Skai Radio asked Ioannis Lilis, a theologian at the Patriarchal Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Crete, which of the two camps he believed the next pope would belong to.
Ioannis Lilis, Theologian (in Greek):
“I think progressive, like the last one, but taking very modest, careful steps, and as such also touching, to some extent, on conservatism. Because he will need to satisfy the more conservative Roman Catholics – cardinals, clergy, and ordinary believers alike. So I believe he will follow that path, because the Catholic Church is extremely well organised. You know, throughout the tenure of each pope, they are already studying what their next steps will be. They don’t wait until the moment a new pope is elected. They are looking for the person who will serve that particular line.”
His hunch may have been correct, as the Chicago-born cleric, a close associate of the late Pope Francis, has a reputation within the Roman Curia, the Vatican government, as a moderate capable of reconciling differing points of view.
Renascença has had a large team in Rome following this conclave. In a conversation with our Portuguese member station, Vatican analyst Aura Miguel underlined that, ultimately, an individual pope is but one link in a centuries-long chain and, regardless of their personal convictions, continuity is guaranteed.
Aura Miguel, Vatican Analyst (in Portuguese):
“There will always be continuity, because it's not Francis's successor who is being elected here, but Peter's. His 267th successor. Looking back, we can see that Pope Benedict XVI’s approach had little in common with that of Pope John Paul II, and yet there was still continuity, just on another level.”
Back in Greece, Ioannis Lilis points out that this election is also of relevance to non-Catholics.
Ioannis Lilis, Theologian (in Greek):
“By their very nature, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Roman Catholics maintain close cooperative relationships, even in matters related to churches and joint initiatives – charitable and social actions, say. A strong Roman Catholic Church abroad, especially in the United States, greatly supports the other denominations. In Greece, we don’t always realise this, because the majority here are Orthodox Christian, with Catholics in the minority. Abroad, however, a strong pope with a clear direction – that is, a strong Roman Catholic Church with a clear stance – inevitably benefits us as well.”
https://www.skai.gr/news/world/vatikano-synexizontai-oi-psifofories-gia-tin-eklogi-tou-neou-papa-1