In a dramatic twist ahead of Romania’s presidential elections, the country’s electoral body has once again disqualified Diana Șoșoacă, a controversial right-wing politician and outspoken critic of the European Union and NATO.
The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) ruled on March 15 that her rhetoric clashed with the constitutional duties of the presidency, effectively barring her from the race.
Șoșoacă, a member of the Eurosceptic SOS Romania Party, has made waves with her anti-EU and pro-Russia stance. She previously made headlines by visiting the Russian Embassy in Bucharest to deliver a message of peace, claiming Romania’s political elite was dragging the country into war. But the electoral commission wasn’t having it, citing her views as grounds for disqualification.
Her rejection marks the second time authorities have blocked her presidential bid. Back in November 2024, the Constitutional Court disqualified her over statements deemed contrary to “democratic values,” though it provided little clarification. This time, she didn’t go quietly.
Taking to social media, she unleashed a scathing rebuke, declaring, “Romania is no longer a democracy; we’re living under a globalist dictatorship.” She even fired off open letters to both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, urging the former not to recognize the upcoming elections and appealing to the latter to disregard any hostile actions from Romania’s “illegitimate leadership.”
Her elimination follows a similar fate for another candidate, Călin Georgescu, who was initially scrutinized for alleged Russian ties but was ultimately disqualified over the source of his campaign funds. Meanwhile, nationalist AUR party leader George Simion remains in the running.
A vocal presence in Romanian and European politics, Șoșoacă first gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic as an anti-lockdown firebrand and later cemented her position as an anti-vaccine advocate. In the European Parliament, she has railed against NATO, denounced Ukraine, and even clashed with EU leaders—at one point, waving religious imagery while calling the institution a dictatorship “worse than the USSR.”
While her political ambitions have hit a roadblock, her influence isn’t fading anytime soon. Whether seen as a fearless truth-teller or a disruptive provocateur, one thing’s for sure—Diana Șoșoacă isn’t going down without a fight.
