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A boy holds a sign reading "Calin Georgescu President" during an anti-government rally in Bucharest, Romania.
Romania’s leading presidential candidate appeals ban
Georgescuhas appealed his exclusion.
The background: Last year, Georgescu – a once-fringe figure – won the first round of the presidential election after an 11th-hour flood of TikTok videos boosted his views: He opposes NATO’s help for Ukraine and admires Romania’s 20th-century fascist leaders. Authorities blamed a Russian influence campaign, without providing clear evidence, and canceled the results.
Why it matters: Foreign policy is one area where Romania’s mostly ceremonial presidency has real power. Romania, a NATO member, borders Ukraine and is a key piece of the alliance’s support for Kyiv.
Georgescu’s ban drew sharp reactions. Hundreds of his supporters clashed with police in Bucharest, and even Georgescu’s main opponent, pro-NATO candidate Elena Lasconi, who called the election annulment “an affront to the very essence of democracy,” has spoken out against the ban.
What’s next: Romania’s Constitutional Court will rule on the appeal by Wednesday.
The bigger question: Is it OK for a democracy to ban a leading candidate in the name of … democracy?
A man gestures toward security forces during an anti-government rally in Bucharest, Romania, March 1, 2025.
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.Romanian independent far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu gives a statement outside his voting station after the annulation of the presidential elections, in Mogosoaia, Romania, on Dec. 8, 2024.
Pro-EU Romanians form a unity coalition ahead of election rerun
Leaders of the Social Democratic party and their current coalition partners, the center-right National Liberal party, the opposition centrist Save Romania Union party, and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR, are trying toforge a common election platform to pool their strength against any recurrence of the first result. They may even agree to back a single presidential candidate.
Declassified intelligence found that someone created thousands of social media accounts to promote pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu – who said he had spent no money on his campaign – on TikTok and Telegram. On Monday, Romanian investigators arrested two men for allegedly planning to trigger protests at the court’s annulment of the result.
The Kremlin denies any political interference in Romania, a former Warsaw Pact country that’s now an EU and NATO member.