Can a Romanian person with a good understanding of this shit show please give the rest of us a solid rundown of how the second election is likely to pan out?
this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2025
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So far, we seem to be doing exactly what Democratic Romania does best: jumping in right after America... (Edit: fuck Putin, too, just to be clear).
George Simion, who proudly wears Trump baseball caps
On one hand, that seems weird.
On the other hand, Musk was off doing Nazi salutes with the AfD, so it seems bidirectional.
The war poses a dilemma for Simion. Although he’s a nationalist who aligns with MAGA on leaving Ukraine to fend for itself, he’s far less keen than Trump to align publicly with Russia. Indeed, Simion styles himself as the candidate who can keep the U.S. committed to stationing troops in Romania.
“What we wish, as a country affected by German and Russian imperialism in history, is that this peace formula comes with new security guarantees for the next 30 to 50 years so that Russia cannot do again what it did, violating all international treaties,” Simion said.
Um. I think that the US leaving NATO is probably not likely to happen regardless, but I think that stationing a ton of soldiers in Europe is probably exactly what Trump doesn't want to do. His thing has been drawing down troops in Europe.
Senior Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, sparking concern on both continents that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to six U.S. and European officials who have been briefed on the matter.
The units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel the Biden administration deployed in 2022 to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion. The numbers are still being discussed, but the proposal could involve removing up to half of the forces sent by Biden.
As the Pentagon undergoes budget cuts under Trump, shrinking the U.S. military’s footprint in Europe would free up resources, potentially for the Indo-Pacific region, which administration officials have said they see as a higher strategic priority. Canceling the deployment of combat units to Eastern Europe could also save money for the Army, which is trying to boost investments in innovative equipment and weapons.
Roughly 80,000 American troops are stationed in Europe. After Russia launched the war, lawmakers from both parties backed a strong U.S. military presence along NATO’s eastern flank, seeing it as an important signal to Putin that the United States remains committed to the defense of those border states.
But Trump campaigned on a promise to end the war quickly and is now pushing for a ceasefire. He has taken a very different stance toward Ukraine from that of Biden, who vowed to provide weapons and other aid to Kyiv “as long as it takes” to prevail.
Trump has pressed Ukraine to make concessions upfront. He suspended military and intelligence assistance for a week after a public clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he has made no specific commitment about future U.S. military aid.
Ben Hodges, a retired three-star general who oversaw the Army in Europe, said he wondered what kind of analysis was done to lead officials to consider the proposal to withdraw troops in the region.
“You’ll have a lot less deterrent capability,” Hodges said. “Now Poland obviously is growing its capability, the Romanians are, other European countries are, but that’ll be a hole that’ll have to be filled.”
Yes... I tried to grit my way through it, but reality is undeniable: this is shit.