Romanian presidential candidate Calin Giurgescu called Ukraine a "fictional state" and said the eventual partition of its territories was "inevitable", the 'Kiev Independent reports.
"100% it will happen," said Calin Giurgescu in an interview with journalist Ion Cristoiu about the redrawing of Ukraine's borders following the Russian-Ukrainian war. He even said that Romania could claim some of the Ukrainian territories.
"The road to such a thing is inevitable. Ukraine is a fictional state... the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic," Georgescu stressed.
He achieved a shocking success during the first round of the presidential election in November 2024, making him a major contender for the second round. The results were annulled by the Constitutional Court because of alleged Russian interference and a TikTok hybrid campaign to support Giurgescu.
The far-right politician, who opposes military support for Ukraine and the transit of Ukrainian grain through Romania, remains the leading candidate for the new vote scheduled for May with 38% projected support.
"The world is changing. Borders will change. If the borders are changing, where are we? We have an interest in northern Bukovina. We have Bujak, we have northern Maramures, the former Zakarpattia region... there are still Hungarians there," Giurgescu said, referring to Ukrainian regions bordering Romania.
The politician also suggested that Poland would annex Lviv, echoing phrases often used by Russian propaganda about the post-war division of Ukraine.
Between 150 000 and 500 000 ethnic Romanians live in Ukraine and are concentrated in the border regions.
During the interview, Georgescu also said that U.S. President Donald Trump would try to quickly reach an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, meaning Bucharest would no longer have to provide aid to Kiev. | BGNES