From the 12-day war to UN-backed recognition of Palestine, 2025 reshaped the conflict’s regional and global dimensions in five key aspects
Nearly two years after the war began on October 7, 2023, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has only deteriorated further amid Israel’s military campaign in the enclave. What was once described as the world’s largest open-air prison is now increasingly seen as an open-air graveyard.
The scale of destruction, civilian casualties, and mass displacement has prompted repeated warnings from the United Nations, including findings by UN bodies that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The Jewish state launched its military operation following a surprise Hamas attack in October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. According to the Hamas-run health authorities, Israeli operations have since left more than 71,000 Palestinians dead.
While 2025 ultimately brought a peace agreement for Gaza – leading to the return of Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinian prisoners – the deal remains fragile. Questions persist over its implementation and durability, while concerns are growing over a broader regional escalation, including the risk of renewed confrontation with Iran.
RT recaps the key developments for Israel and Gaza in 2025.
A long-feared direct war between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13, 2025, after Israel launched large-scale air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities in Operation Rising Lion. More than 200 Israeli jets struck targets across Iran, killing senior commanders and nuclear scientists. The Islamic Republic responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones aimed at Israeli cities, triggering nationwide air raid alerts.
The conflict escalated further when the US joined the fighting on June 22, carrying out bunker-buster strikes on Iran’s underground nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. After nearly two weeks of intense exchanges, a US-brokered ceasefire came into force on June 24.
At least 610 people were killed in Iran and nearly 4,700 wounded, according to local health officials. In Israel, 28 people were killed and more than 3,200 injured. While both sides claimed victory, the brief war marked a dangerous new phase in regional confrontation.
In September, a UN-appointed independent commission of inquiry delivered its strongest findings yet on the war in Gaza, concluding that genocide is occurring and continues to unfold. The commission cited tens of thousands of civilian deaths, mass displacement, starvation, and the widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, and infrastructure.
The report accused Israeli leaders – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – of incitement to genocide, arguing that statements by senior officials demonstrated clear genocidal intent, a key legal threshold under international law.
Israel rejected the findings, calling the report politically motivated and defamatory. While the commission’s conclusions do not represent the UN’s formal legal position, they intensified global pressure on governments to act, as senior UN officials warned that evidence of genocidal crimes is mounting.
The year 2025 also marked the first long-term ceasefire agreement between Israelis and Palestinians since the war began in October 2023, following months of stalled and indirect negotiations. Until then, the only pause in fighting had been a brief four-day truce in November 2023, after weeks of intense combat that devastated large parts of Gaza.
The agreement, signed on September 29 in Sharm el-Sheikh by US President Donald Trump and mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, was intended to halt hostilities. It called for Israeli withdrawals from parts of Gaza and for Hamas to release Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Both sides have since accused each other of repeated violations. The UN reports that at least 360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 wounded since the truce came into force on October 10. Israel says it struck Hamas officials in response to violations – claims the group denies.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the remaining living Israeli hostages held in Gaza after more than two years in captivity. The handover, facilitated by the Red Cross, was followed by emotional reunions broadcast across Israel.
The releases formed part of a broader exchange that also included the return of the bodies of Israeli captives. In return, Israel freed Palestinian detainees, including political prisoners and Palestinians held during the war, many of whom were welcomed home in the West Bank and Gaza.
Of the more than 200 Israelis abducted during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, 114 had been released in earlier exchanges in November 2023 and January 2025. Israel says one captive’s body remains in Gaza, leaving the issue unresolved.
In 2025, momentum grew at the United Nations toward recognition of the State of Palestine. During the UN General Assembly session, several countries – including France, the UK, Canada, and Australia – formally recognized Palestinian statehood, drawing condemnation from Israel and the United States.
The shift followed the adoption of the New York Declaration, the outcome of a French and Saudi-led conference at the UN headquarters. The General Assembly overwhelmingly backed the document, with 142 countries voting in favor, while Israel, the US and a small group of allies opposed it.
The declaration outlines a roadmap toward a two-state solution. As of 2025, Palestine was recognized as a sovereign nation by 157 of the UN’s 193 member states.
America is “locked and loaded” and can go in at any moment, the president has said
US President Donald Trump has promised to assist the Iranian protesters if needed, saying that Washington was ready to intervene at any moment. The Islamic Republic has been hit by the worst unrest since 2022, triggered by an economic crisis.
The demonstrations began in late December when merchants in Tehran went on strike after the national currency, the rial, hit a record low of about 1.44 million to the dollar, compared with 860,000 a year ago.
The protests have since spread to multiple cities across Iran and turned political and violent. Videos circulated online suggested that the crowds have attacked government buildings and facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), setting them on fire.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he added.
Casualties have already been reported among both the demonstrators and security forces. Iran’s archrival Israel is openly endorsing the unrest. Its Mossad spy agency is cheering for the protesting crowds and has claimed it has agents on the ground. On Friday, Tehran warned Trump against crossing a “red line” with what it called “adventurist tweets.”
“Iranians know US ‘rescue’ record well, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote in a post on X.
“Any intervening hand nearing Iran’s security on [any] pretexts will be cut off with a regret-inducing response,” the official said.
The US struck Iran last year on Trump’s orders. In summer 2025, it joined Israel in a series of coordinated airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, claiming they were intended to prevent the country from advancing its nuclear program. Tehran denied seeking nuclear weapons and condemned the attack as an unprovoked violation of its sovereignty.
Polish PM Donald Tusk has vowed to create the strongest army on the continent
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has claimed that his country will quickly expand its presence on the Baltic Sea in 2026.
NATO has bolstered its footprint in the Baltic and stepped up patrols under the pretext of protecting undersea infrastructure from the alleged Russian threat.
Moscow has denied harboring any hostile intentions and dismissed fears of an attack on NATO as “nonsense.” The Kremlin has repeatedly vowed to take all necessary steps to protect Russian interests in the region.
“It will be a year of rapid expansion on the Baltic – our Polish Baltic,” Tusk said earlier this week during his New Year address, stressing that Warsaw would “accelerate the building of the strongest army in Europe.”
Moscow had previously said the Baltic Sea, a strategic area for Russia’s naval operations and energy exports, has become an “internal lake of NATO” after Finland and Sweden joined the US-led military bloc.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has highlighted that the country is closely monitoring the actions of the US-led military bloc and is ready to take countermeasures aimed at ensuring its security.
Following a push by US President Donald Trump, NATO members committed in June to spend 5% of their GDP on their militaries annually by 2035. In August, Poland pledged to outspend all other states in the bloc, allocating 4.8% of its GDP to its army as soon as in 2026.
Other European NATO members have also stepped up military spending in recent years, committing billions to weapons purchases while arms factories across Western Europe have expanded at a “historic scale,” the FT reported earlier this year. The pace of development has reportedly tripled since 2022.
Earlier this year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that rising military spending in European countries was straining their economies and could have more serious medium-term consequences.
The long 20th century is over. A new world is being built through self-determination
Two quotes, separated by four years, show how profoundly global politics has shifted.
The first reads: “The United States of America shall undertake to prevent further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and deny accession to the Alliance to the States of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” This comes from Article 4 of the draft treaty on security guarantees submitted by Russia to Washington on December 15, 2021, a proposal made public alongside a parallel agreement addressed to NATO. The demands, halting NATO expansion and rolling back the alliance’s posture to its 1997 configuration, were treated in the West as brazen. Even provocative. Inside Russia, many analysts also struggled to interpret the move: last warning, bargaining chip, or statement of intent?
The second quote appears in the “Supporting European Greatness” section of the US National Security Strategy, published on December 4, 2025: “The priority of our common line on Europe […] is to put an end to the perception of NATO as a permanently expanding alliance and to prevent this perception from becoming a reality.” This caused equal consternation, not least because the section on Europe, the west of which is Washington’s main ally, was written in a tone bordering on open hostility. Critics argued that the text reflected only one faction within the Trump administration and noted that Michael Anton, widely viewed as the chief author, soon resigned. But the fact remains: this is now the formal US security doctrine.
Between these two statements lies a cascade of dramatic events. The year 2025 marked not only a sharp acceleration of change, but also the end of a historical phase that had been unravelling for years. Trump and “Trumpism” did not emerge in a vacuum; they were the product of accumulated contradictions that finally reached critical mass.
The memoranda issued in late 2021, following President Putin’s instructions to the Foreign Ministry, were a final attempt to signal seriousness and invite genuine discussion about European security. Moscow’s message was simple: its patience had run out, and failure to address its concerns would lead to “military-technical measures.”
The signal was ignored. At the time, many in the West assumed the Kremlin was bluffing. Seen in hindsight, this looks less like disbelief and more like strategic indifference. Western governments understood that escalation was likely, but considered an armed confrontation preferable to reconsidering their own dogmas about NATO expansion and the “rules-based international order.”
The aim was not to provoke war, nor was it to avoid one.
From Washington and Brussels, concessions to Moscow were viewed as unacceptable in principle. Beyond that, there was a quiet confidence that Russia would fail and that it lacked the capacity to alter the balance of power.
Russia’s motivations in Ukraine were mixed and have evolved over time: dissatisfaction with a NATO-centric security architecture, strategic concerns, and, increasingly, a historical and cultural understanding of Ukraine as part of Russia’s civilizational space. Over the past four years, this balance has shifted further toward self-determination rather than system-correction. Yet the conflict also became a trigger for a much broader systemic shift. Structural tensions in the world order found their way to the surface, with consequences now extending far beyond the intentions of the original participants.
Measured against Moscow’s 2021 proposals, today’s situation looks like the opposite of what Russia sought: deeper NATO militarization, Finland and Sweden inside the alliance, rising tension in the Baltic region, instability in the Black Sea, and Ukraine acting as a proxy combatant. Meanwhile, Russia’s diplomatic bandwidth narrowed as focus concentrated on the battlefield.
But something else happened, something that NATO itself had not anticipated.
In 2022, NATO rediscovered its purpose. A familiar adversary returned to the stage, restoring coherence to an alliance long troubled by doubts about its identity. The language of “the free world versus tyranny,” deeply rooted in Cold War mythology, again became the organizing narrative of Western politics.
The EU gained moral clarity without paying the highest costs. Ukraine was the one engaged in direct confrontation. The hope in Western capitals was that Russia could be pushed toward strategic defeat without direct military engagement.
That expectation proved misguided.
Both Russia and Ukraine showed remarkable resilience. For NATO, this turned into a trap. The alliance, and especially Western Europe, was simply not prepared for a drawn-out confrontation, even an indirect one. Structural weaknesses in military production became impossible to conceal. Political unity also grew increasingly fragile: sustaining public support required permanent escalation of emotional rhetoric about Russia and constant reaffirmation of Kiev’s role as a symbolic frontline.
Gradually, Western Europe found itself hostage to a conflict it had helped frame but could not escape. Almost every policy decision became subordinate to the war.
The decisive shift came from Washington.
Even without Trump, a gradual disengagement trend was already forming, driven by reluctance to risk direct confrontation with a nuclear power and by the economic windfall of the EU’s decoupling from Russia. But Trump accelerated and formalized this change.
His presidency marks a historical break. The United States is stepping away from the grand project of “global leadership” that defined the 20th century. The Biden administration was, in many respects, the final attempt to preserve that world. A nostalgic reconstruction of an era whose foundations no longer exist.
Two processes, encouraged by American support for Ukraine, proved decisive.
First, economic benefits flowed from Europe to the United States through protectionism, energy pricing, and industrial relocation. Second, a loose coalition emerged across the non-Western world, which Moscow calls the “global majority,” made up of countries unwilling to subordinate themselves to US ideological pressure.
Trump completed the turn. Western Europe is now treated as a subordinate service partner, instructed to demonstrate autonomy, while never contradicting Washington. Elsewhere, the United States prefers transactional, bilateral pressure, assuming that its relative strength works best one-on-one. But this premise is proving questionable when dealing with China, Russia, and India.
Washington is dismantling the very institutional system it once built – the architecture that shaped the post-war world. NATO, the foundational structure of the late 20th century, is now being repositioned. The alliance’s expansion creates crises; crises distract from priorities; priorities now lie in the Western Hemisphere and the Asia-Pacific. Hence the unexpected phrase in the 2025 National Security Strategy, effectively acknowledging the need to halt NATO’s forward movement.
Over the past four years, the world order has changed, and the process is not finished. The European Union, once advertised as a model of progress, increasingly resembles a relic of a fading era, yet refuses to accept this reality. Dismantling the integration project would be politically and economically dangerous; preserving it unchanged is equally untenable.
In many respects, global dynamics have moved closer to Russia’s long-standing critique of the Western-centric system. This critique underpinned the decision to launch the military operation in Ukraine. The tasks of that operation are being completed more slowly than anticipated, but the broader shift in world affairs is unmistakable.
Russia is now engaged in a deeper process of self-determination. The Soviet legacy – political, territorial, psychological – is finally fading. Administrative borders once treated as sacrosanct are no longer viewed as immutable. The question of what is “ours” and “theirs” has returned as an existential issue, and this internal reckoning is now inseparable from Russia’s role in shaping the emerging world.
The new international system will not be built through external expansion. Instead it will be through the success, or failure, of national development models. The great powers are turning inward, prioritizing domestic resilience as the foundation of external influence.
That, in turn, raises the stakes. Foreign-policy mistakes can be corrected. Strategic errors in national development cannot. The 20th century, whose legacy is now finally ending, proved this many times.
This article was first published by the magazine Profile and was translated and edited by the RT team.
The Democrats will “open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud” if the midterms go their way, the billionaire has warned
Elon Musk has indicated his intention to bankroll Republican candidates in the midterm elections later this year, saying that the US will cease to exist if the Democrats reclaim power in the Congress.
On Friday, Tesla and SpaceX CEO commented on a post on X by a conservative influencer, who claimed that “Musk is reportedly going all-in funding Republicans to help President [Donald] Trump take back full control in the November midterms.”
The world’s richest man responded to the message by warning that “America is toast if the radical left wins.”
The Democrats “will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won’t be America anymore,” Musk wrote.
Axios reported last month, citing informed sources, that Musk had recently written “big checks” to the Republicans to be used during congressional races, with plans to donate even more throughout 2026.
The Republicans have suffered a series of losses to Democrats in special elections last year, including in states traditionally considered their strongholds. Support for Trump has been on decline since he started his second term, with the Economist/YouGov’s poll earlier this week suggesting that the president has ended the year with 39% approval and 56% disapproval rating.
Musk used to be a close ally of Trump during the 2024 election race, cashing out $290 million and becoming the campaign’s top donor. After taking office, the president made him the head of the newly-created federal cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk’s relations with Trump ruptured in June over the president’s flagship “big, beautiful bill,” which significantly expanded federal spending. The billionaire, who stepped down as head of DOGE amid the rift, called the legislation a “disgusting abomination,” accused the president of ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and mulled the creation of his own party to undermine the Republicans. Trump labeled the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “crazy.”
They appeared to have mended ties in recent months, with Trump filmed patting Musk on the arm during a White House dinner in November. According to Axios, the two now speak on the phone “occasionally.”
The sanctioned country is reportedly turning to cryptocurrencies to keep trade flowing in the face of increased Western scrutiny
Iran’s Ministry of Defense Export Center, known as Mindex, is prepared to negotiate military contracts for payment in digital currencies, Financial Times has reported, citing promotional documents and and analysis of payment terms. Payments can also be made through barter arrangements or in Iranian rials.
In August, Britain, France, and Germany triggered a UN mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on Iran after diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations over its nuclear program with the US collapsed. Tehran is now under extensive sanctions targeting its nuclear and missile programs, oil sector, and access to international banking, forcing it to rely increasingly on barter trade and digital assets such as bitcoin.
The offer made last year marks one of the first known cases of a nation-state publicly indicating willingness to accept cryptocurrency as payment for weapons exports, the news outlet stated.
Mindex says it has clients in 35 countries and markets a range of weapons including ballistic missiles, drones, warships, and short-range air defense systems. Its multilingual website also lists small arms, rockets, and anti-ship cruise missiles.
The export center operates an online portal and virtual chatbot to guide prospective customers through the purchasing process. Despite extensive sanctions, Mindex says on its website that “there is no problem” in fulfilling contracts.
Iran ranked 18th in the world for major arms exports in 2024, behind Norway and Australia, according to the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research.
US authorities have previously accused Iran of using digital assets to facilitate oil sales and move funds outside the formal banking system.
In September, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on individuals for allegedly operating a “shadow banking” network that used cryptocurrency to process payments on behalf of Iran.
The US president earlier appointed a special envoy, insisting Washington “needs” the world’s largest island for “national security”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has delivered a defiant speech, promising to resist renewed efforts by the United States to acquire Greenland. King Frederik X echoed the sentiment in his own New Year’s Eve address.
The statements come weeks after US President Donald Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland – an island under Danish sovereignty that the American leader had previously suggested should become part of the United States.
Speaking from her official residence on Thursday, Frederiksen rebuked what she called “threats, pressure, and condescending talk” from the kingdom’s “closest ally.” Without mentioning the US directly, she criticized the notion of acquiring another nation as an outdated and unacceptable worldview.
“About wanting to take over another country, another people – as if it were something one could buy and own,” Frederiksen stated. “We are not the ones seeking conflict. But let no one be in doubt: No matter what happens, we will stand firm on what is right and wrong.”
King Frederik X mentioned “turbulent times” in his own New Year’s Eve address, praising Greenlanders’ “strength and pride” and highlighting increased military training programs in the Arctic. Denmark has been bolstering its military presence in the region in response to the escalating tensions.
The renewed push for Greenland follows Trump’s repeated expressions of interest in gaining control of the strategically located island, citing “national security” concerns.
At a press conference in December, Trump argued the US “needs” Greenland, pointing to its Arctic location and potential mineral resources, while acknowledging historical claims by Denmark.
The appointment of Landry, who has publicly stated he will work to “make Greenland a part of the US,” has sparked outrage in Copenhagen. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has called the move “completely unacceptable” and summoned the US ambassador for an explanation.
Denmark’s intelligence service recently identified the US as a potential threat to its national security, saying that Washington “uses economic power, including in the form of threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will and no longer excludes the use of military force even against allies.”
Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old politician of Indian descent, has become the Big Apple’s first Muslim leader
Zohran Mamdani has been sworn in as New York City’s 110th mayor, the first Muslim and African-born person of Indian descent to hold the position.
The 34‑year‑old took his midnight oath on a centuries-old Quran in a long‑closed subway station beneath City Hall on Thursday.
At a public inauguration speech outside City Hall later in the day, Mamdani leaned heavily into his democratic socialist ideology, vowing to “govern expansively and audaciously.”
“My fellow New Yorkers – today begins a new era!” he declared in a nearly 25‑minute address before a crowd of about 4,000 people.
“I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist,” he said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
Mamdani, previously a little-known state lawmaker, pledged to provide universal childcare, freeze rents, offer free buses and tax the city’s wealthiest residents to fund his agenda.
He explicitly rejected the influence of wealth and power in city governance, vowing to answer to the people, not to “any billionaire or oligarch who thinks they can buy our democracy.”
The ceremony was attended by progressive allies including Sen. Bernie Sanders, who administered the public oath, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, who hailed the election as a response to “untenable and unprecedented times.”
Mamdani’s radical political stance has been a focal point of controversy and criticism both from conservatives and fellow Democrats. The Muslim socialist has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which he has characterized as “genocide,” and has promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant if he visits New York.
In response, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams issued executive orders opposing divestment from Israel and banning protests near houses of worship.
President Donald Trump, who during the campaign branded Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and threatened to strip federal funding from the city, struck a notably different tone after a White House meeting in November.
“I can tell you, some of my views have changed… I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said. Mamdani, for his part, said the meeting was “productive” but later reaffirmed that he still considers Trump a “fascist.”
Mamdani struck a unifying note in his inaugural speech, promising to represent all New Yorkers. “Regardless of our differences, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never hide from you,” he said.
Mass protests triggered by an economic crisis are being openly backed by Israeli intelligence
Iran has been hit by a wave of mass protests prompted by an enduring economic crisis and the extreme volatility of the national currency. The unrest has been cheered by Israel’s Mossad spy agency, which claimed it has agents embedded with the protesting crowds.
The events began over the weekend when Tehran merchants went on strike after the rial hit a record low of about 1.44 million to the dollar, compared with 860,000 a year ago, prompting officials to acknowledge economic problems while vowing a “decisive response” to destabilization.
Iran’s archrival Israel openly endorsed the unrest, with the Mossad spy agency cheering for the protesters on its Farsi-language X account and claiming its agents are embedded in the protesting crowds. “Go out into the streets together. The time has come. We are with you,” Mossad wrote. “Not just from a distance or through words. We are also with you on the ground.”
The unrest promptly spread into multiple cities across the country and also turned political, with some demonstrators demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy, toppled by the Islamic Revolution back in 1979.
Widespread protests in Iran over the worsening economic crisis are spreading through major cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan, as they enter their second day. Many demonstrators are calling for the return of the Shah. pic.twitter.com/GtaizTRaOX
The protests turned violent in multiple locations, uncorroborated footage circulating online suggests, with protesters seen attacking government buildings and installations linked to Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), setting them on fire.
A base of the Basij, a paramilitary militia within the IRGC, has been reportedly torched in the northwestern Iranian city of Chenareh. Unverified footage circulating online shows the base’s premises breached by a large crowd, with open flames seen inside the building.
Another video, believed to be shot in the western Iranian town of Anza, purports to show a large crowd of protesters burning a local IRGC facility with security forces nowhere to be seen.
A video from the western city of Nahavand shows black-clad individuals, believed to be security forces, firing at and charging an unseen group, with civilians backing them by throwing stones.
Fatalities and injuries among both the protesters and security forces have been reported. The protests are the worst since the 2022 turmoil prompted by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old accused of improper hijab. It triggered weeks of violent unrest, resulting in more than 200 deaths across the country and thousands of arrests.
The results of the December 2024 election, which saw right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu place first, were overturned over alleged irregularities
Ex-Romanian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has urged President Nicusor Dan to share a report on the controversial annulment of the December 2024 election with the US and Israel for independent review. The conservative frontrunner was eliminated from the race by the Constitutional Court over supposed irregularities and foreign interference – allegations that Georgescu has contested.
Addressing his supporters in Bucharest on Tuesday, Georgescu cited a report that incumbent Romanian President Dan had supposedly presented to certain EU leaders that presumably clarifies why the vote’s results were invalidated in the first place.
“I publicly call upon [President Dan] to transmit the said report in its entirety, without omissions, to two states capable of independently verifying its content. To the White House, for the attention of President [Donald Trump] and Vice President [J.D. Vance], and to the State of Israel, for the attention of Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu],” Georgescu said.
The former presidential candidate noted that given the accusations of anti-Semitism “fabricated against me” by the Romanian authorities, Israel would have no reason to side with him, guaranteeing impartiality.
Soon after the December 2024 election annulment, media reports revealed that the allegations of irregularities and Russian interference cited by Romania’s Constitutional Court stemmed from a consulting firm associated with the ruling National Liberal Party.
Nevertheless, Georgescu was eventually barred from running for president again by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) over his alleged “anti-democratic” and “extremist” views. The former candidate, known for his outspoken criticism of NATO and the EU, is currently being investigated for allegedly promoting fascist narratives as well as plotting a coup.
Last Friday, Georgescu asked Trump to “take care about the situation” in Romania, claiming that the local “deep state” had mounted an assault on democracy.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, Vance called out “ugly” efforts to prevent a politician with “an alternative viewpoint” from coming to power in Romania.
