Romanian far-right leader George Simion received an award in Washington from an organization that advocates for U.S. withdrawal from NATO because the alliance "provokes Russia," according to an investigation by journalist Costin Andrieș, raising fresh questions about the AUR party's international connections as it gains political ground.
The award came from Republicans for National Renewal (RNR), a U.S. organization that in March 2025 passed a resolution calling for immediate American withdrawal from NATO. The group argued that NATO expansion "increased tensions in Europe" and directly led to Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea—a position that echoes Kremlin talking points nearly verbatim.
RNR recognized Simion for his work promoting "freedom of expression." The ceremony included a theatrical moment where the AUR leader ceremonially cut a Greenlandic cake—an event that Andrieș noted for its symbolic oddity given Greenland's geopolitical moment.
The revelation comes at a sensitive time for Romania, a NATO member on the alliance's eastern flank that has taken on increased strategic importance since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Romania hosts significant NATO forces, provides critical support for Ukrainian grain exports through Constanța port, and serves as a key logistics hub for Western military aid to Kyiv.
Andrieș' investigation uncovered extensive networks linking RNR to pro-Russian figures and parties across Europe and America. The organization maintains a strategic partnership with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, close ties to Bulgaria's anti-NATO Vazrazhdane party, and funding channels through Hungary's state-financed Danube Institute.
RNR has also supported U.S. politicians opposing Ukraine aid, including Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar, and maintains connections to media figures like Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec—individuals known for promoting narratives aligned with Russian geopolitical interests.
For AUR, a party that has surged in Romanian polls by combining nationalist rhetoric, anti-corruption messaging, and skepticism toward Western institutions, the RNR connection represents a potential vulnerability. While Simion has attempted to position AUR as a legitimate conservative alternative to the established PSD-PNL political establishment, ties to openly pro-Russian organizations undermine claims of Romanian patriotism.
The timing is particularly awkward given AUR's recent electoral gains and inclusion in mainstream political discourse. The party has capitalized on frustration with corruption, economic inequality, and what supporters see as Brussels' interference in Romanian sovereignty. But accepting awards from groups that explicitly advocate abandoning NATO—the very alliance protecting Romania from Russian pressure—raises fundamental questions about the party's strategic orientation.
In Romania, as across Eastern Europe, the transition is not over—it's ongoing. The country's democratic consolidation has always involved navigating between Western integration and homegrown nationalist sentiment. AUR's rise reflects genuine grievances about the pace and distribution of post-communist development. But the RNR connection suggests the party may be entangled with international networks whose primary goal is not Romanian prosperity but weakening Western solidarity.
The revelation echoes patterns seen across the region, where far-right parties combining legitimate domestic complaints with pro-Russian geopolitical positions have gained ground in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. For Romania—a country that has generally maintained strong pro-NATO and pro-EU consensus despite economic challenges—the question is whether AUR represents genuine conservative politics or a vehicle for external influence.
Romanian security services have grown increasingly concerned about Russian hybrid operations, particularly following attempts to interfere in recent elections. The RNR award, while symbolic, provides concrete evidence of connections between Romania's rising far-right and international networks that explicitly oppose the country's Atlantic orientation.
Simion has not publicly addressed the nature of RNR's NATO position or whether he shares the organization's view that the alliance "provokes Russia." That silence may prove costly as Romanian voters—who have lived under Soviet domination and understand Russian pressure firsthand—weigh AUR's nationalist claims against its international associations.
