Diplomat and politician Mircea Geoana, who recently stepped down from his post of Nato deputy secretary general, has officially announced his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for November 2024.

This will be his second attempt, after Geoana, at that time the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), was defeated in 2009 by Traian Basescu. Rated as the leading candidate for the post until several months ago, Geoana is still seen as a possible candidate to make it to the second round.

"Let's roll up our sleeves and build a better country," he said in a message posted on social networks.

Currently, Geoana follows the leaders of the ruling parties, Marcel Ciolacu of the PSD and Nicolae Ciuca of the National Liberal Party (PSD) as one of the main candidates, according to the latest electoral polls.

Running as an independent candidate, Geoana is backed by a political vehicle, Romania Renaste, set up this year by anonymous members. While his position as an independent candidate may bring him benefits, as trust in all political parties is plunging among the electorate, the identity of the anonymous entity as well as his inherited ties to the Social Democrats are visible liabilities.

Romania Renaste, described as an initiative “of all the Romanians”, was launched online in February, raising speculation that its aim is to support Geoana ahead of Romania’s autumn presidential election.

Romania has a deeply corrupt political elite and its economy is far from a functioning market economy, is the message of the civic initiative — not far from the message of the country’s radical far-right parties, Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and S.O.S. Romania. But while there are echoes of “Make Romania Great Again” in its message, the Romania Renaste initiative remains loyal to European, democratic and free market values. 

Romania Renaste argues for a more direct and active involvement of the state in the economy and all sectors, though.

“The Romanian state is no longer functioning. It's a conclusion we've all come to, unfortunately. Romania is now struggling between mediocrity, incompetence and populism. If we want a functional democracy and a healthy state of law, we all need to contribute to the rebuilding and transformation of Romania,” according to the initiative’s website.

“In Romania, we can no longer talk about a functional [market] economy for many years. The economic model has failed. In Romania, the economy hardly survives from one day to another, [it’s] worse than in the 90s: there is no predictability, competitiveness or level playing field. Because of this, many Romanians started questioning the significant benefits of Romania's EU membership and expressing populist and anti-European ideas,” the initiative comments on the economic side.