One day after the shocking episode of violence against an immigrant from Bangladesh, who was delivering food in Bucharest, representatives of the party led by George Simion attempted through various communication channels, television, and social networks to establish the idea that the video in which the 20-year-old films himself attacking a courier is staged by secret services to compromise the party, giving authorities the opportunity to outlaw AUR.
„Everything was filmed by the book! In a matter of minutes, the video of the incident appears on TV, accompanied by the racist message of the AUR parliamentarian. Doesn’t anything seem suspicious to you?” wrote Gheorghe Piperea, a Euro MP from the party led by George Simion.
From here, dozens of posts and resharing of the message about the possibility of a setup have emerged, in an undisguised effort by AUR to turn the incident into a conspiracy theory.
"The scheme with the deliveryman attacking is far-reaching and does not target Dan Tanasă. It directly targets the AUR party! Why? Because they are aware that austerity measures will significantly impact the political capital of the ruling parties," announced a post from an anonymous account named DevX.
"And the guys behind the scenes know this very well. So they will do everything possible to outlaw AUR. What you are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg. The real show will start in the fall. Get your popcorn ready," grammatically incorrect wrote the individual hiding behind the DevX account.
The examples above are just an illustration of AUR's effort to mitigate and dissipate the shock caused among the public by the racist attack in the Colentina neighborhood of Bucharest. The question is: why?
Dan Tanasă calls for you to wake up. Why?
To answer this, we analyzed the X/Twitter account of AUR deputy Dan Tanasă, who on August 19 posted a racist call against legally immigrated workers in the country, following a significant labor force crisis recorded in Romania in recent years.
"Refuse the order if it's not delivered by a Romanian. Stop encouraging the import of unskilled workers from Asia and Africa. Wake up!" wrote Dan Tanasă on his X account.
The posts and shares made by the AUR deputy on social networks paint the portrait of a profoundly racist, populist, nationalist, religious fanatic, anti-European, and pro-Russian character.
He doesn't miss any of the Kremlin's propaganda messages, such as Europe being on the brink, democracy not existing, Muslims destroying the continent, and Călin Georgescu.
Dan Tanasă's account is not much different from those of thousands of extremists who spread false information, fear, and conspiracy theories, but something interesting is on his X page.
The AUR deputy, despite sporadically posting racist content, focusing on Muslims, Dan Tanasă's concern for immigrants in general, especially those in Romania, escalates around August 15.
And this doesn't just happen with him, but also with BobbyDRomania, a radical extremist, once paid from public funds, PARFENE, Daily Romania, and DexV. The posts from these accounts, strongly shared by Tanasă, as if by a signal, starting around mid-August, focus on Asian immigrants coming to work in Romania.
FEAR. Although fear can be seen in the victim's eyes, AUR politicians attempt to present the video filmed by the aggressor as a setup.
The video is one minute and 51 seconds long. It was filmed live on TikTok by a 20-year-old who hit the delivery person in the image.
The incident took place in the Colentina neighborhood of Bucharest. The aggressor was apprehended after the heroic intervention of a nearby police officer, who was on his way home on an electric scooter.
Andrada loves false information
The scandalous post by the AUR deputy instigating the boycott of non-Romanian delivery workers was not isolated. It was followed by a swarm of other posts and shares, messages received from his followers recounting their heroic deeds in the fight against food delivery workers.
This is Andrada, or at least this is the profile picture of her account where she posted a racist message, supporting the campaign of AUR deputy Dan Tanasă - Source: X/Twitter
The message and clip posted by Andrada, reshared by Dan Tanasă, suggesting that the person massaging their leg is a Romanian delivery worker - Source: X/Twitter
"Take it, fools! You jumped because Tanasă is racist! These are the scum delivering your food! Keep accepting food delivered by Nepalese, Pakistanis p…! How much idiocy in those who bark when someone speaks the truth!" Andrada writes in a comment on a recording of a person in a fast-food restaurant, looking at their phone, and massaging a leg. The association with being a delivery worker is a Bolt Food box placed next to another person in the background.
The AUR deputy has no issue distributing a fake news clip, accompanied by a suburban, aggressive, and racist language.
Connection with Russia
The mysterious activation of Dan Tanasă and dozens of other extremist and fascist accounts posting on X network, all attacking Asian delivery workers, has a clear connection to Russia.
This is why AUR representatives are rushing to turn the video of the racist attack in Colentina into a conspiracy theory and why George Simion reacted when the press revealed this coincidence, because it is extremely visible, and the Kremlin's campaign, shifted to Romania, has already caused a serious incident that shocked public opinion.
On August 11, Alexander Beglov, the governor of the Saint Petersburg region, signed an order prohibiting Asian immigrants from working in the food delivery sector.
In July, the Russian official had also signed an order banning them from working as taxi drivers. A week after the decision in Putin's favorite region, a fervent campaign against food delivery workers begins in Romania.
Since the start of the conflict, the Kremlin has been conducting a violent campaign against immigration, with many of those who came to work in Russia, especially from Asian countries, some former Soviet republics, leaving due to the hostility shown by authorities and the incitement to hatred promoted by government representatives.
Due to the economic and social problems caused by the failure of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin's propagandists have developed a strategy to find scapegoats for the dramatic decline in living standards in Russia, blaming immigrants who have quickly become the designated culprits, marginalized and attacked from all sides at the Kremlin's behest.
The issue for AUR is that the shock caused by the racist attack video has brought to the attention of the general public the extremist and fascist campaign carried out by Dan Tanasă and other associates of the party, led by George Simion, on social networks, once again indicating a certain synchronization with propaganda lines conceived in Moscow.