Brian Iselin, Associate Editor
The EU must act decisively to cauterise the wound that a far-right, pro-Russia government in Romania could inflict on our collective security this weekend. If Calin Georgescu wins this weekend’s presidential runoff, Romania’s Schengen accession must be halted immediately. Georgescu’s alarming praise for Putin and his criticism of NATO and EU involvement signal a dangerous shift towards Moscow’s sphere of influence. We cannot afford yet another Trojan horse within our borders.
The potential for a Russia-leaning Romania to compromise the integrity of the Schengen zone cannot be overstated. With free movement across borders, a pro-Kremlin government could facilitate Russian intelligence operations, disinformation campaigns, and economic manipulation throughout the EU. We’ve already witnessed the havoc wrought by pro-Russia governments in Hungary and Slovakia. The EU must learn from these experiences and take pre-emptive action. Allowing Romania into Schengen under far-right leadership is to wheel Putin’s Horse right through the gates of the EU.
The EU must send an unequivocal message: countries that align with Putin’s Russia have no place in the Schengen Area (nor the EU for that matter!). We must be prepared to indefinitely postpone Romania’s accession if Georgescu wins. This isn’t about punishing Romanian citizens, but about protecting the security and values of the entire European project. The time for half-measures and appeasement is over. We must cauterise this wound — if it eventuates this weekend — before it festers and spreads. The EU’s security, and indeed its very future, may depend on our willingness to take this stand.
We still have a window of opportunity to act. The final decision on Romania’s Schengen accession is expected during the EU interior ministers’ meeting on December 12, 2024. So we will know the result of the election. Until then, any member state can raise objections or exercise their veto power, which would halt or delay Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area. We must use this time wisely to rally support among EU member states to prevent a potentially catastrophic mistake. If the pro-Russians win in Romania this weekend, we start by blocking their Schengen membership, and then we have to isolate and defund them in the EU and NATO contexts as well. No half measures.