BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s defiant far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu stood outside a closed polling station Sunday to denounce a top court’s unprecedented decision to annul the first round of voting in which he emerged as the frontrunner to declare.
The Constitutional Court canceled the election on Friday after a trove of declassified intelligence alleged that Russia had organized an extensive social media campaign to promote Georgescu-Roegen.
“Today is Constitution Day and there is nothing constitutional in Romania anymore. I am here in the name of democracy,” he told media in Mogosoaia, outside Bucharest. “Abolishing democracy cancels our freedom itself.”
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The court referred to the illegal use of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, and to undeclared sources of funding. Without naming Georgescu-Roegen, the court said one candidate received “preferential treatment” on social media platforms, distorting the expressed will of voters.
Despite being a major outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu-Roegen topped the polls in the first round on November 24, and would defeat reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union in a runoff on Sunday. party must take up.
Thirteen candidates competed in the first round of the presidential race in the European Union and NATO member state, the aftermath of which was gripped by numerous controversies, including a recount of votes ordered by the same court.
New dates will be set to allow the presidential election to take place all over again.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement on Constitution Day on Sunday that “we are in a moment of profound responsibility towards the values that characterize us as a nation.”
“The Romanian Constitution defines the framework within which the state and political life operate and serves as a shield against threats to democracy,” he said. “In turbulent times, state institutions are called upon to act with calm, wisdom and respect for the law, the constitution and democracy.”
After Georgescu-Roegen unexpectedly topped the polls in the first round, his success left many political observers wondering how most local surveys had placed him behind at least five other candidates before the vote.
Many observers attributed his success to his TikTok account, which now has 6.2 million likes and 565,000 followers. But some experts suspected Georgescu-Roegen’s online following had been artificially inflated, with Romania’s top security body claiming TikTok had given him preferential treatment over other candidates.
On Saturday, Romanian prosecutors raided three properties in the central city of Brasov linked to Bogdan Peschir, who is suspected of illegally financing a campaign to promote Georgescu-Roegen. The raids were based on suspicions of voter corruption, money laundering and cyber fraud, prosecutors said.
The secret services claimed that Peschir paid TikTok users $381,000 (361,000 euros) to promote Georgescu-Roegen’s content on the Chinese platform. The intelligence services said the information obtained “revealed an aggressive promotional campaign” to increase and accelerate Georgescu-Roegen’s popularity.
There is no clear link between Peschir and alleged Russian interference. Russia denies that it is interfering in Romania.
On Friday, Georgescu’s potential opponent Lasconi also strongly condemned the court’s decision to annul the election. He said it was “illegal, immoral and destroys the essence of democracy” and that the second round should have gone ahead.
