Calin Georgescu #wingnut jta.org
A Romanian political hopeful who could become honorary president of the country’s fourth-largest political party praised an antisemitic 1930s fascist leader during a primetime TV interview on Monday night, drawing sharp condemnation from Jewish and other groups
Speaking on Antena 3 news channel, Calin Georgescu, a sustainability expert formerly affiliated with the United Nations, said Corneliu Zelea Codreanu “fought for the morality of the human being.” An interviewer had asked Georgescu why he put Codreanu on a list of national “heroes” in a 2020 Facebook video which garnered over 700,000 views
Codreanu led the fiercely antisemitic Legionnaire Movement until his execution in 1938. The group espoused an extreme version of ethnic and religious nationalism that involved political murders and acts of terrorism
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Georgescu’s interview marked the first time in years that a prominent political figure openly defended Codreanu’s record on a mainstream Romanian television channel
Georgescu also referred to Antonescu, under whose rule at least 280,000 Jews were killed, as a “martyr”
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Georgescu’s 2020 Facebook video has circulated widely in Romania after he was nominated to be honorary president of the far-right AUR party[…]In announcing the nomination, AUR’s co-chair George Simion said that the party is also considering supporting Georgescu as its presidential candidate
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Simion told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Georgescu’s comments “do not represent in any way the position of AUR,” adding that Georgescu “will have to clarify” his remarks. Asked whether he is considering revoking Georgescu’s nomination as AUR’s honorary president, Simion said “It is one of the options”
The JTA also questioned Simion over the broader AUR party’s views regarding Antonescu and Codreanu
“The party’s official position cannot be other than what the law says in Romania”