Election campaign under the sign of scandal: AEP investigates AUR for possible illegal expenses

The Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) announced yesterday, through a press release, that it has launched an inspection of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, to verify how the party finances its electoral campaign for the presidential elections of May 4, 2025. The AEP decision comes following information that appeared in the public space, according to which AUR would have carried out political propaganda activities in violation of the provisions of Law no. 334/2006 on the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns.

At the center of the scandal is the leader of the Romanian Republican Party (AUR), George Simion, accused of having approved the signing of a lobbying contract worth 1.5 million dollars with a company in the United States. The information was published by G4Media.ro, which presented the document that would prove the conclusion of this contract on April 18, 2025. The goal of the lobbying campaign would be to obtain the support of American influencers and officials, especially from circles close to the MAGA movement, to promote Simion's candidacy for the presidency of Romania.

According to the cited source, the amount would come from state budget subsidies allocated to parliamentary parties, and the actions under the contract would include interviews, meetings with American officials and personalities, as well as other activities to influence public opinion in the United States.

During his recent visit to the United States, George Simion met with controversial figures in the American political sphere, including Steve Bannon, Robert W. Malone and influencer Jack Posobiek. Images from these meetings were published on the X network (formerly Twitter).

Despite the evidence presented, AUR categorically rejected the accusations and denied the existence of the contract. "The information presented is false. (...) It is disinformation. We have not signed any contract nor have we given any money to an entity in the United States or any other country (...). Our expenses are transparent," the party said in an official statement.

George Simion reiterated this position in a telephone interview with Realitatea TV, stating that he had not paid "even a dollar" for lobbying in the US. "There was no contract, there was no dollar, there was no payment," the AUR leader declared, adding that Romania "is no longer a democracy, but a hybrid regime," and that the pressures on it would be part of a political intimidation strategy.

Also during his overseas visit, Simion gave an interview to Steve Bannon, in which he launched serious accusations regarding the alleged fraud of the Romanian elections. In the same interview, Simion asked Bannon to intervene with Alex Jones, a well-known American filmmaker, to facilitate the promotion of his messages in the context of the Romanian elections.

The controversy was also fueled by the appearance in the photos, alongside Simion, of Mateea-Cristina Petrescu, the communications director of the Tate brothers, whose name also appears in the contract that is the subject of the allegations.

Regarding this scandal, the former AUR leader, Claudiu Târziu, declared that he was unaware of the existence of the contract, stating that he left the party before the date of signing the document. However, Târziu stressed that, from a legal point of view, concluding such a lobbying contract would not be illegal, but raised questions about the appropriateness and morality of using state subsidies for this purpose, especially in the context of Simion's previous promises to use this money for social projects.

Meanwhile, the AEP confirmed that control procedures are underway and that both the financing of the AUR electoral campaign and the current activity of the party will be checked. The investigation is to determine whether or not violations of the law on the financing of political parties have been committed.