Ludovic Orban, veiled message about George Simion: “He only knew how to set the tone for booing”

The former prime minister and presidential adviser Ludovic Orban published a text on Facebook on Friday in which he says that he has nothing to do with “the idea of ​​a former head of a gallery getting involved in politics”, but claims that “the head of the gallery who stuck his head in our politics is backwards”: “He only knew how to set the tone for the booing”. Although he does not name him directly, Orban refers to the leader of AUR, George Simion, who was said in the public space to have been a gallery boss in the past.

George Simion was, according to DigiSport.ro, one of those who contributed to the emergence of the Honor et Patria and Uniti Sub Tricolor groups, which bring together supporters of the Romanian national team. The sports publication notes that Simion was surprised at certain matches in the sector where the “United Under Tricolor” supporters were, and the ultras' actions brought several penalties to the Romanian Football Federation from the FRF.

“I was not the head of the gallery,” stated George Simion in an article on his blog in August 2024.

Ludovic Orban: “It's not bad for a few thousand young people who fervently support a team to accept you as a leader”

Ludovic Orban, who also leads the Forța Dreptei Party, which he founded after his departure from the PNL, wrote in his text on Friday on Facebook that he has nothing to do with the heads of the gallery, because “it is not right for several thousand young people who fervently support a team to accept you as a leader”.

“I have nothing to do with the idea of ​​a former head of the gallery getting involved in politics. Provided he was a real head of the gallery. Who would have supported the team hard, who would have created beautiful chants, who would have taught the gallery to sing, who would have created spectacular scenery,” according to the former presidential advisor.

“Our bad luck is that the head of the gallery who stuck his head in our politics is upside down. He only knew how to set the tone for booing, whistling, cursing, throwing various objects at the players of the opposing team, insulting chants, fighting with opposing galleries or law enforcement. And, unfortunately, that's exactly what he does in public life,” Orban concluded his message.

Ludovic Orban, expected to take the “decisive step” back to PNL

Ludovic Orban announced, in a Facebook post from December, that he could take the “decisive step” towards the PNL.

“In the Bucharest campaign, I took a first step towards the PNL. Maybe the decisive step will follow,” Orban wrote on Facebook at the time.

Ludovic Orban was PNL president from 2017 until September 2021, when he lost the party leadership to Florin Cîţu. He resigned from PNL in November 2021, after almost 30 years, and, together with 15 other parliamentarians, created Forţa Dreptei.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, president of the PNL, recently declared that he agrees with the absorption of Ludovic Orban's party into the PNL, showing that he does not see a problem in discussing this right after the New Year.

On the same day, Ludovic Orban announced that the political formation could merge, through absorption, with the PNL next year, but he specified that, before the “effective negotiations”, a “negotiation mandate, which will be taken in the statutory forums of both parties”, is needed.

Orban also said that he talked with the president of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan, agreeing that there is “openness to start these discussions”.