Legionary Apologia in Contemporary Romania: Advancing a Comparative Methodology for Scaling European Fascisms

This article investigates the political resurgence of radical fascist ideologies in contemporary Romania, specifically those associated with the Legionary Movement and the Antonescian ideology. The inquiry is framed within the context of the disputed 2024 presidential elections, later annulled, which had initially resulted in a victory for Călin Georgescu. The article presents a legal evaluation of the criteria for typicality concerning the criminal charges brought against Georgescu by the General Prosecutor’s Office (public glorification of individuals convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, the promotion of fascist, legionary, racist, or xenophobic ideas, concepts, or doctrines). Based on a semi-quantitative doctrinal assessment of European fascist typologies (hybrid, classical, radical, and totalitarian) from 1922 to 1975, five core attributes linked to the systemic criminality of each regime are coded. The findings show Romania as one of the most exterminatory fascist regimes in Europe, ranking just below Nazi Germany: Legionary Movement (7.6 out of 10 on the political violence scale) and Antonescu regime (8.0 out of 10). This ranking makes Georgescu’s promotion of Legionary and Antonescian rhetoric particularly disquieting from both a political and criminal standpoint. The analysis of ideological convergence between 11 classical analytical variables of European fascism and Georgescu’s political discourse yields an average score of 5.8 out of 10, placing Georgescu’s position between moderate and high levels in relation to the characteristics of classical European fascism (Italian Mussolini ideology and Spanish Francoism).