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59
Why are Romanians abroad voting for far-right candidate Simion? (www.rfi.fr)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Twenty percent of Romanians live outside the country – a total of 5 million people

In the first round of the election on 4 May, the Romanian far right obtained even higher results outside its borders than it did within – Simion came first with more than 40 per cent of the vote in Romania, but took more than 60 per cent of the vote in the diaspora.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Emigrants likely consume less traditional media of their home country than people who still live in their home country, so they are more likely to form their opinion based on the (mis)information that they are fed on social media and hearsay gossip instead. Simion in particular is apparently very good at meme messaging: https://euobserver.com/digital/ar13f54193

Social media memes are very good for spreading populist propaganda like "easy solutions to complex problems" and "hatred of the other", but bad at nuance and informed discussions. They're a populist's wet dream.

The emigrants also do not face the real consequences of their choice. If Simion increases corruption/graft in Romania, hijacks traditional media, breaks education, ... The Romanian not living in Romania, will be far less affected by this than the people living in Romania. Same as what happens with the German Turks who vote for Erdogan: they don't have to build their lives in Turkey, but thanks to the wrecked economy their Euros are worth much more, so they get to live as kings when on vacation in Turkey.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Came here to say this, the similarities to Erdogan's voters are striking.

In addition, this is a protest vote, very much against something seen by many Romanians as an unholy alliance between a classical liberal party (on paper) and the spiritual descendants of the old communist party. At least that's what my Romanian friends are telling me.

This is the keg, and Simion's brand of nationalistic populism is the powder.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So the same far-right populism on the rise story as everywhere else?

I truly hope the fall of the USA will put an end to it. It already does put a damper on it afaics.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I call them the "far dumb". They borrow idiotic propaganda from both left and right. Like: the foreigners are to blame for the state of the country, we'll kick them out and nationalise the industry and split the profits with everyone. Except for the lazy bums in public administration, which we're going to fire en masse.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

ZeroGravitas as in the artist?

Also, are your friends leaning the same way?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No, ZeroGravitas is just my modest tribute to Iain M. Banks.

And fuck no, they're appalled by the rise of braindead populism. We have a saying in our business: for every complex problem there's a solution that's simple, easy to understand and completely wrong. Can't remember whose quote that is, but it perfectly captures the populist propaganda.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I Like that. Sounds like most of the solutions they use at my work that I have to deal with afterwards.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Because many people are easy to be brainwashed with Facebook and Tik Tok and WhatsApp conspiracy theories. And they are also brainwashed in the churches (many people voted for Simion because he is a β€žman of Godβ€œ. Such bullshit!). Even educated people. They just stop thinking for themselves. I know people are discontent with political parties, all over the world, there are no real politicians left nowadays, and if there are, they get eaten alive by the other scumbags. But that is no reason to look to Russia to help.

In the article, they are talking about difficult fitting in the societies where they emigrated to. My opinion is, as an immigrant as well, that one has to make the effort to integrate. You cannot expect for that to fall on the shoulders of the citizens where you emigrated. No society is perfect, and we have to accept that. And live where it bests suits us. But voting for anti-EU puppet will not help your life living abroad. You might get kicked out of the EU and be forced to get back to your country.

And EU does not make everything perfect, but one can get involved to force changes there. Not just complain in your WhatsApp group. Will it be better to live like they do in Russia? Become their friends and who knows, maybe in future be sent to fight a war for them? I don’t think so. People should start to think for themselves and not just listen blindly to their preachers.

EU should do something to stop the easy access to propaganda tools for the Russians and Chinese. I would be happy to see Facebook and Tik Tok be banned, they are just rotting people’s minds.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

It's... an uphill battle, to say the least... I'm trying to discuss these things with people within my social group who are undecided or are Right-leaning, and everything is dismissed as "fear-mongering" - even (maybe especially) when presenting actual facts.

Trouble is, our educational system, while dense and robust in terms of information, does not encourage or aid the development of critical thinking. Most people don't even understand the Hierarchy of Blame and Responsibility (as I call it), nor do they have an adequate understanding of how the economy works, which is why everyone still cheers when someone says "we'll increase the amount of money in your pockets" while it's a practical impossibility, or why a lot of people believed that "€35k houses" nonsense Simion spouted.

These are dangerous times, everyone's feeling it and that feeling is correct. However, most people don't do the work needed to understand WHY the times are dangerous and wherein the danger actually lays, and so start hanging onto anyone or anything which promises them quick solutions.

Part of me can't blame them, as our history has never been truly comfortable, not even after the establishment of contemporary Democracy in our country. We, the average citizens, have been played and taken for fools time and time again, it's hard to trust anyone who seems to want to maintain the Status Quo. On the other hand, I can't believe how desperately stupid the situation has become...

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Living in another country you either adapt or become more proud of your origin. The former group is less likely to vote and the later group votes far right.

That can be most clearly seen with groups, which had to choose citizenship, as for example Turks in Germany. For a long time Germany did not allow dual citizenship. That ended up with Turks living in Germany voting for Erdogan, if they had Turkish citizenship. However Turks who became German citizens are much more likely to vote for left leaning parties in German elections.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

While Muslim minorities in Europe tend to vote for left parties, predominantly voting for the left in Germany, France or my home country of the Netherlands for example, there's also the more recent phenomenon of parties established to specifically cater to Muslim voters.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The diaspora vote is particularly favourable to the far right in the countries where Romanian expatriates are most numerous, namely in Western Europe ...

"Their vote is a protest vote against the traditional parties, which are seen as corrupt," explained Antonela Cappelle-Pogacean, a researcher at Sciences-Po and a specialist in Romania.

"But it's also a vote with socio-economic motivations, since in these Western societies, members of the Romanian diaspora are to be found among the working classes. Finally, it's also a vote about identity, since the integration of these people is sometimes difficult, and they are in a way torn between their rebuilt lives and their desire to return to Romania."

East-west split

In Eastern European countries such as Poland, Moldova and Hungary, however, the pro-European candidate Nicusor Dan came first.

This result can be explained by Simion's hostile stance on sending military aid to Ukraine, and by the pro-Russian stance of Calin Georgescu, the candidate who topped the poll in November and whose legacy the leader of the Alliance for Romanian Unity claims to inherit.

The diaspora vote is therefore directly linked to the economic and geopolitical context of the countries where Romanian expatriates live.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago

Well, they'd better fucking stop it, because I'll have to deal with their shit...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've witnessed this for a few countries and think it applies to most countries. Emigrant votes tend to lean to the right. Why? Probably because they don't have to deal with the consequences and don't want things to have changed when they go back (so only the things you can't do anything about will change), which is a conservative trait.