Voter support for the illiberal Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party in Romania, which promotes disinformation on Ukraine, is growing ahead of elections in 2024, the Financial Times reports.
For instance, George Simion, the chair of the AUR, wrote a post on social media a few days after the Hamas attack, falsely claiming that the government in Bucharest had funded the evacuation of 3,000 Ukrainians from Israel while doing nothing for Romanians trapped in the war.
Later, the Romanian authorities dismissed Simion’s claims, saying that only a few hundred Ukrainians were evacuated from Israel and they, not Bucharest, paid for their transport.
Earlier, the AUR had peddled anti-vaccine theories during the COVID-19 pandemic and then focused on Ukraine, declaring that Romania was “exploited” by the West and urging the government to stop aiding Kyiv.
The AUR stands against agricultural products transit through Romania from Ukraine and also opposes hosting Ukrainian pilots who train on F-16 fighter jets.
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