However, while he's criticized both entities, don't expect Simion to usher Romania out of either of them. In various comments leading up to the election, he discounted the idea of Romania exiting NATO or the EU, sounded alarms over the supposed Russian menace, advocated continued sanctions against Moscow, and embraced increased European military spending. Consider these Simion quotes from an interview with the Financial Times:

“Our stance cannot be changed. Eighty percent of the Romanians want NATO and want the European Union. This is not something we can negotiate.” “Putin’s Russia was and is one of the biggest threats for the European states, especially for us, for the Baltic states and for Poland." “Without a common geopolitical bloc, like . . . NATO, led by the US, we are in a big danger.”