A Romanian High Court has annulled the first-round results of its presidential election saying the process must be rerun after allegations that Russia ran a coordinated campaign to promote the far-right candidate who emerged as the winner.
The Constitutional Court’s decision came after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence this week that alleged Romania was the target of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks” during the election period.
These attacks involved thousands of social media accounts promoting far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on platforms like TikTok and Telegram.
In a statement on Friday, the judicial body said, “The electoral process for the election of the President of Romania will be resumed in its entirety, with the Government required to set a new date for the election of the President of Romania as well as a new calendar program for carrying out the necessary actions”.
According to the court, its judgment was due to procedural issues and the declassification of the secret reports by the Romanian intelligence services showing Russian involvement in influencing voters through an anti-Western propaganda campaign supporting Georgescu.
Reacting to the ruling, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomed the court’s decision, stating it was the correct response to allegations of Russian interference that influenced the election.
Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate who wants to end Romania’s support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, emerged as the frontrunner in the first-round vote on November 24 despite being a political outsider who declared zero campaign spending.
He was due to face pro-European Union centrist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a runoff on Sunday. However, the new vote means restarting the entire process, which might include collecting signatures for each candidate from scratch.
