Bucharest, August 4, 2025 – RBJ – By Constantin Radut – I am not a fervent reader of the UK press, and even less of the FT. Although many consider it a prestigious newspaper, I prefer The Guardian. It seems to me more honest with the realities of today’s world.
So, on August 4, 2025, a Romanian newspaper – profit.ro -, picks up a text published in the FT entitled “How to defeat populism — a refresher”.
In the text, the height of journalistic cynicism, Mr. Alec Russell praises, in the most embarrassing populist style, Nicusor Dan, the new president of Romania and former mayor general of Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Alec Russell says: “The victory of the presidential elections by the pro-European candidate Nicușor Dan represents a lesson in democracy for centrist leaders who are in difficulty due to the aggressive rise of populists.”
Without getting angry with Alec, I tell him that Nicușor Dan is more populist than he imagines. Mr. Dan. was an NGO manager who challenged everything that previous administrations were doing for the dignity of the city. He was the one who tried to stop them in the courts, without bringing an argument to solve the problems.
“As mayor of Bucharest, he fought real estate developers on behalf of ordinary people and oversaw the modernization of the city’s district heating system…”, says Alec Russell. Totally untrue. His objective was to surround himself with local barons – real estate or not – who would finance his actions.
He had no concerns for the people of Bucharest. Because, you know, Mr. Alec, in his first term as mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan did not achieve any objective for the people of Bucharest. He did not even put a new curb on the damaged streets of the Romanian capital. Regarding the city’s district heating, during Nicusor Dan’s term as mayor, he managed to replace 76 km of the total of about 1000 km, which is the length of the heating network of Bucharest.
For your information, Alec: in the neighborhood where I live, we have not had hot water since July 28 until today, August 4. This is the populist “work” of Nicusor, who in the electoral campaign promised to solve this pressing problem of the inhabitants of the Romanian capital.
And also for your information, Alec Russell: Nicusor became mayor by criticizing in the most populist way the financial debts of Bucharest. Do you know what he achieved? After his first term as mayor, Bucharest’s financial debts to public and private suppliers were higher than the one he had at the beginning of his term.
Alec Russel, this is underground populism, much more difficult to perceive than that of the declared populists in Western or Eastern Europe.
If you don’t want to lie to your readers, please Alec Russell, stop writing untruths about Romania. Take a closer look at what Nigel Farage is doing.
