Ovidiu Ivan

LLM in International Law@LeidenLaw / Independent researcher in criminal law-humanitarian law-HR & post transitional justice / Trader / SME owner

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Romanian intelligence services acting these days reminiscent of Securitate. There are no national security emergencies, there is no government stability argument in the free world that would justify aggressive power plays in democratic political parties and the justice system.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

That Putin and Xi talk about immortality is kind of surreal. Puțin might be on to something about Chinese secret research, who knows?! Nothing new in two self-absorbed country leaders dreaming to live forever.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Former PMs of Romania, Năstase and Dăncilă appear in the SCO summit group photo in China alongside other world leaders, way above their weight. If these are China's political friends here it shows that they are not necessarily interested in Romanian politics, those two lack the political strength and popularity. However, on an economic level, we are already somewhat of a Chinese market.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Why does Starmer and other European leaders keep repeating that the war in Ukraine started three years ago? That was an escalation, there was at least a non international armed conflict way before. Russia's war demands are in fact closer to the 2014 objective. Stop pretending Crimeea annexation didn't exist, lack of action in 2014 is the root of Russia's aggressive stance.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

@Mikiashvili_M cautiously optimistic

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Romanian presidential candidate Simion is merely the PSD (Social-Democratic party) attempt to hold on forever on power. Simion played his role as the "controlled opposition" during the pandemic and afterwards. A guy who made a career as an agent provocateur. He was supposed to be the scarecrow that would make their candidate president. That plan failed ... twice. Now he's their best chance for president since Iliescu. That couldn't be possible without fooling a large part of the electorate with the anti-establishment discourse. It wouldn't be possible without Russian networks and propaganda.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

I am tired of this MAGA BS with the Romanian elections, I heard VP Vance mentioning it today again at the CPAC Conference. Here in Eastern Europe foreign interference is not just a political slogan, but a constant reality through our history.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Donald Trump should tell Musk what he told Kim: "Rocket man! Relax! Go to the beach!" Too much information is harmful. There's a Romanian saying: "where there are a lot of brains there is also a lot of stupidity". I paid the 8$ for the freedom of speech to say this.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

@elonmusk And by the way, he is also a former beneficiary of USAid, look it up.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

@elonmusk Romania is already sovereign. Georgescu is a nationalist communist, a Trump copy-cat trying to appeal to the rightwing. A creation of the post-communist left, desperate to remain in power.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

@RichardGrenell Georgescu, the so-called right wing conservative candidate which the Trump administration seems to like so much is one of the first and main beneficiaries of USAID in the past.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

US request on Romania to lift travel restrictions on the Tate brothers is over the top. They are not political prisoners.

[Financial Times @FT]

Breaking news: The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, a champion of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest. https://t.co/Grx3ZrVqDA

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

Having said that, I think the momentum is great for a durable peace in Ukraine and I think that Trump can achieve it. There are a lot of win-win scenarios for all parties involved.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

And I will judge the success of the peace negotiations story based on Ukrainians happinesss and Zelensky's attitude with the end result.

[Ovidiu Ivan @ovidiuivan]

For me the real indicator of Trump's honesty towards Europe is whether he will allow Putin to make him appear weak. He repeated so often that Biden was weak that a Ukraine abandonment or an Eastern European retreat will haunt his whole legacy.