Far-right MEP candidates told to take lie detector test

ROMANIA’S far-right AUR party is to make candidates take lie detector tests to prove their loyalty before European Parliament elections.

The aim is to unearth “infiltrators” and showcase the party’s commitment to transparency in the lead-up to the key poll, where it is expected to perform well.

“When you go to war you have to ensure team cohesion,” Dan Tanasa, the party’s spokesman, said in an interview on Romanian television.

Local leaders and potential candidates from the party will have to pass a polygraph ahead of the elections on June 9, with the first tests due to be carried out next Monday, the party said.

Mr Tanasa said it would serve as an “integrity test” to highlight the party’s commitment to transparency before the electorate while also scrutinising the allegiance of its members.

Running on a ticket to “combat globalists and Satanists”, the party is on track to win 12 seats at the European elections owing to the popularity of its strong pro-christian and anti-immigration message.

The party’s national management office has outlined plans to tour the country to vet all eligible candidates and ensure they are on message. “I plan to dedicate at least the next two weeks to meeting all our candidates and validating their credentials to prevent any potential embarrassments,” George Simion, the party’s leader, said on social media.

Downplaying concerns surrounding the initiative, he added: “In my experience, those exhibiting fear, reluctance or resistance are typically the traitors, individuals who prove unreliable in times of need.”

According to Mr Simion, the polygraph tests will help identify potential “infiltrators”, including those affiliated with intelligence services.

“We just can’t directly ask for their service card,” the AUR leader said in an interview, adding that not having them would be “very strange”.

Cristian Terhe, a former social democrat who tops the AUR’S candidate list, said Romanians faced a simple decision at the polls between “sovereignty or vassalage; freedom or tyranny”.

The AUR’S rise mirrors a trend of populist, far-right parties gaining popularity across Europe including the AFD in Germany, Vox in Spain and the Slovak Nationalist Party.

However, an internal spat in the AUR has led to Marius Lulea, one of the party’s founders, being suspended for opposing Mr Simion’s choice of candidate for the Bucharest mayoralty race.