Romania was supposed to hold the second round of the presidential elections on December 8. The decision to repeat the election was made after far-right, pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round with alleged support from “state and non-state entities”, according to information published by Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT).
The Constitutional Court said its decision was taken “in order to ensure the fairness and legality of the electoral process”.
The process to elect the president of Romania will be restarted in its entirety, the court said. The government will schedule a new date for the election.
The ruling was issued after various entities including NGOs challenged the fairness of the electoral process, in the context of the reports submitted by intelligence services to the state security council.
Investigations by several state agencies indicated as much as €50mn could have been spent to support Georgescu’s presidential campaign, in particular by boosting his presence on TikTok.
On December 5, in response to the report published by CSAT on the alleged illegal campaign carried out by Georgescu, the State Department of the US called on Romanian authorities to fully investigate the data and “to ensure the integrity of Romania’s electoral process”.
Georgescu is known for his extreme nationalist rhetoric, broadcast via TikTok and other social media channels, and lauding of the leaders of the fascist Iron Guard, a movement allied to the Nazis and responsible for numerous atrocities during World War II.
He has also questioned Romania’s Nato membership, and recently said that if elected he will ban Ukrainian grain exports via Romania.
Ahead of the election, the candidate was trailing better known politicians in the polls, but he unexpectedly took the lead in the first round, beating candidates including Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Georgescu was to have faced Elena Lasconi, leader of the reformist Union Save Romania (USR) in the second round on December 8. BNE Intellinews
