Opposition to EU enlargement, particularly regarding Ukraine’s accession, is regularly voiced in European countries. Russia exploits these sentiments to expand its destabilizing influence on European nations and interfere in the domestic politics of EU member states. As a result, support for Ukraine’s European integration may become fragmented or disorganized.
In this context, elections represent a particularly vulnerable time in the information space, marked by a rapid surge in news and media content related to socially and politically sensitive issues.
On May 4, 2025, the first round of the presidential election will be held in Romania. Earlier, the Constitutional Court annulled the results of the presidential election, citing intelligence reports about violations during the campaign.
The first round demonstrated the growing popularity of far-right politicians in Romania. Moreover, one of the key topics of Călin Georgescu’s campaign — the winner of last year’s annulled elections — was criticism of economic and military aid to Ukraine. Moreover, one of the key topics of Georgescu’s campaign was criticism of economic and military aid to Ukraine.
Ultimately, Georgescu was not allowed to run in the elections. However, the issue of support for Ukraine in the war, as well as Romanian society’s perception of Ukraine’s European integration, remains open amid a heated election campaign accompanied by disinformation efforts.
Therefore, we decided to discuss key topics relevant to Ukraine’s European integration prospects with Romanian policy analyst Iulian Chifu.
The interveiw was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.
