Romaniaʼs Constitutional Court has finally ruled to bar pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu from running in the presidential elections in May.
This is reported by the Romanian media Digi24.
All 11 appeals against the Central Election Councilʼs decision to disqualify his candidacy for the elections were rejected.
In addition, the judges rejected five complaints against the registration of an independent candidate for president of Romania, Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan.
Presidential elections in Romania
The first round of the presidential election in Romania was held on November 24, 2024. Far-right politician Calin Georgescu and liberal pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi advanced to the second round. Lasconi beat the countryʼs incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu by just 2 700 votes.
Georgescuʼs leadership was unexpected, and he was accused of influencing the election through TikTok. Because of this, the European Commission even asked the platform to provide information on how the social network has reduced the risk of inauthentic or automated use of its service, as well as to list the risks arising from its recommended content system.
Romanian intelligence has found that the TikTok account bogpr, used by Romanian citizen Bogdan Pescir, participated in financing Georgescuʼs campaign. He made payments totaling $381 000 between October 24 and November 24 to users of TikTok accounts that participated in Georgescuʼs promotion.
Romaniaʼs Constitutional Court on December 6 annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election.
Georgescuʼs arrest
Călin Georgescu was arrested on February 26. He was charged with inciting anti-constitutional activity, spreading false information, creating a fascist organization, glorifying people accused of genocide and war crimes, and creating an anti-Semitic community. He was released after the charges were filed and is under judicial supervision.
A total of 18 people have been arrested in Romania in connection with the case of pro-Russian politician Călin Șorghescu. Before that, Romanian security forces conducted 50 searches of people associated with him. According to the prosecutorʼs office, the searches took place in the homes of 27 people and in the offices of four companies. The security forces found weapons, ammunition, 25 kg of gold bars and cash (over 3.3 million dollars, 700 thousand lei, 43 thousand euros, 13 thousand dirhams and 21 thousand Serbian dinars).
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.