Article by David Istrate – published Monday, May 19, 2025, 15:30 / Updated Monday, May 19, 2025 15:41
Garry Kasparov (62 years old), the legend of the world chess, reacted after the victory of Nicușor Dan in the presidential elections in Romania. The great master from Russia expressed his delight on the results of the second round.
Sunday, May 18, Nicușor Dan became the 5th post-December president of Romaniamanaging to defeat George Simion, the golden candidate, with 53.60% of the total votes expressed in the 2nd tour of the presidential elections.
Garry Kasparov: “A victory for democracy, prosperity and Europe is a defeat for Russia”
A few hours after Nicușor Dan's victory became official, Garry Kasparov, a chess legend and, at present, political activist, spoke about the importance of this moment:
“A victory for Romania and its future. As a matter of course, a victory for democracy, prosperity and Europe is a defeat for Russia and for the other enemies of these things. If Maga chooses to identify with that camp then it clarifies their loyalty“, Kasparov wrote on X.
More than a week ago, Garry Kasparov was in Romania at the Superbet Chess Classic, a spectacular stage in the Grand Chess Tour. On this occasion, The great chess player offered an interview for gsp.ro in which he spoke about the resistance of Europe in front of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
“The war did not end, so we cannot say that Russia won. I hope he never wins it! But, indeed, he makes progress. And this is not surprising, because the free world has reacted very slowly to this threat. And the answer was not as danger. There have been some successes, but I hope that we are now at a turning point, at a time when Europe will finally respond firmly and start acting as it should have been, “said Kasparov.
Garry Kasparov, declared a terrorist by the Russian state for criticism of Vladimir Putin
Over the years, he has become a fervent critic of Vladimir Putin and, in 2007, announced his candidacy for the presidential elections, which he has withdrawn after a few months. Kasparov has organized various campaigns and protests against the Kremlin leader, becoming known as an opponent of the regime. In 2013, he fled the country and took refuge in the United States, where he continued to fight for democratic values.
In 2015, he wrote a book entitled “Winter comes. Why should Vladimir Putin and the enemies of the free world be stopped”, which, according to Amazon, says “the unbelievable story of Russia's fall back into the dictatorship and how the West now pays the price because it allowed this”. Kasparov gave numerous interviews, wrote editorials and spoke on any occasion against Putin, being declared, by the Russian state, a terrorist in March 2024.
