Is the Romanian secret service behind the anti-Hungarian AUR?

Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor (AUR), the Association for the Unification of Romanians, which was founded last year with a Christian, conservative, patriotic attitude, won almost nine per cent in the Romanian parliamentary elections on Sunday. The ultra-nationalist party, which has emerged from almost nothing, has thus entered the Bucharest legislature, creating a platform for extremist views. However, it does not have a coherent position; its strength is the emotion-based politicisation with which it took votes from rival parties, primarily the Social Democrats. According to the Romanian expert, János T. Barabás, the activity of the Romanian secret service is behind the success of the AUR.

The key to the AUR’s fourth-place success in the parliamentary elections is its support for the European Romanian diasporas, its opposition to the political elite, and its campaign on social media sites. The message of improving Romania, uniting Romanians, and eradicating corruption and nepotism resonated well with millions of Romanian citizens living abroad, which also contributed to receiving almost half a million votes. The AUR Facebook pages performed exceptionally well in the campaign compared to the online activities of other Romanian parties.

János T. Barabás, a senior analyst at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economics (KKI), gave a statement to Index, in which he said that the campaign rhetoric revolved around three main topics:

• ethnicity-based nationalism and revisionist aspirations, the unification of all Romanians;
• confrontation with epidemiological measures (anti-mask, virus denial);
• the promotion of traditional family values in accordance with the guidelines of the Orthodox Christian religion.

“Romanians are fed up with theft, lies, and lack of attachment to national values. We are a Christian, nationalist, patriotic party,”

said the AUR’s founder, 34-year-old George Simion, in his post-parliamentary victory speech.

Like the other leaders, Simion is not new to Romanian public life. He began his public career as a soccer ultra, and he founded the hockey ultra-groups Honor et Patria and Uniti Sub Tricolor, which bring together fans of the Romanian national team. According to transindex.ro, their common chants include “afara cu unguri din tara”, which means “out of the country with the Hungarians”.

Another influential figure in the AUR is the blogger Dan Tanasâ, who has been mocked as the “fake news writer”. Tanasa was actively involved in the party’s online campaign. The KKI researcher reminds us that the Romanian authorities did not initiate proceedings due to what happened, which raises the possibility that they carried out what seemed to be a civil initiative with the approval of the Romanian secret services, with the aim of intimidating Hungarians.