Tumult as Romanians defend far-right leader

Tens of thousands of far-right demonstrators gathered in Bucharest on Saturday to protest the Romanian government’s decision to call off a second round of national elections, deeming it an assault on democracy. A rerun of the first round is now scheduled for May 4, but the protesters want the government to reinstate the original result and hold a run-off instead.

Why was the vote canceled? The Romanian courts annulled the pro-Russia, anti-vaccine populist Calin Georgescu’s first-round victory late last year over allegations of Russian interference. A month later, protesters took to the streets, and in February, US Vice President JD Vanceslammed the decision as anti-democratic during his contentious address at the Munich Security Conference.

Last Friday, Romania’s pro-European coalition government survived a vote of no confidence, after a trio of hard-right parties accused the coalition powers of corruption. Authorities had detained Georgescu on Wednesday – notably, as he was en route to register as a candidate again – and charged him with giving “false information, false statements,” setting up an organization with “fascist, racist, or xenophobic characteristics” and forming an antisemitic organization, among allegations.

What’s next? The dissent means that, as GZERO Media’s senior writer Willis Sparkswrote on Wednesday, the once-obscure Georgescu now “may not need alleged Russian backing to win” in May – should he remain on the ballot.