(MENAFN) Romanian presidential candidate George Simion has called for peaceful public protests following what he alleges was a rigged election, warning that the country narrowly avoided violence akin to Ukraine’s 2014 uprising. In a social media address on Friday night, Simion claimed the recent vote was manipulated by foreign interests and accused his rival, pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, of being a “puppet of France” who benefited from outside influence, including NGOs and the “Soros network.”

Simion lost the run-off election by a narrow margin and challenged the results, alleging foreign meddling, but Romania’s Constitutional Court dismissed his appeal. He claimed that state and non-state actors had attempted to provoke his supporters into violent unrest on election night to justify a crackdown on opposition voices.

“They wanted a bloodbath,” Simion said, warning that Romanian society came dangerously close to descending into civil conflict. He likened the alleged plot to the 2014 Euromaidan events in Ukraine and claimed foreign operatives who had participated in those protests were present in Romania.

Despite rejecting violence, Simion encouraged his followers to organize and peacefully demonstrate through civic groups, unions, and political movements, including his Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party.

The controversial election came after a previous vote was annulled over alleged irregularities, with the original frontrunner, Calin Georgescu, disqualified. Simion and others have decried the outcome, and the Kremlin has also cast doubt on the legitimacy of the final result. Telegram founder Pavel Durov added to the controversy, accusing France’s intelligence chief of pressuring him to suppress conservative voices on the platform in the lead-up to the election.

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