With less than two weeks to go before Romania votes on its next President, the country's Constitutional Court has ordered a recount of the first round votes after Elena Lasconi's Union Save Romania Party was accused of breaking campaign rules. Meanwhile Călin Georgescu, who topped the first round votes, has been accused of having his campaign boosted by Tiktok and Russia.
Tiktok? Russia? Ordinary Romanians?
The first round of voting took place on 24th November. In a surprise result, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was knocked out of the race after placing third. First place went to Georgescu with almost 23% of the vote. In second place with 19% of the vote and with only few thousand votes more than Ciolacu, was Elena Lasconi.
The second round of voting is due to take place on 8th December and will be a contest between Georgescu and Lasconi, as the top two finishers in the first round.
Romanian security officials have claimed that 'cyberattacks' were conducted to sway the results of the first round of voting. They also claimed that Tiktok had given Georgescu 'preferential treatment', something Tiktok denies. Russia was also accused of having an 'interest' in influencing Romanian public opinion.
The European Commission has been asked by the Romanian media regulator to conduct 'a formal investigation into TikTok's role in the Romanian elections'.
Georgescu, who is running as an independent, has had a career in sustainable development and is seen as being inclined more towards friendly relations with Russia rather than western blocs like NATO and the European Union. He also has a substantial following on Tiktok, with one account reaching 3.7 million likes.
Accusations of Russian involvement in Georgescu's surprise first-round win prompted comment from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Speaking to Russian news agency TASS, Peskov said, 'The Russian side has not been involved in the electoral processes in Romania. In general, we do not have the habit of meddling in the elections of other countries, specifically those in Romania.'
Peskov added though that Romania's current government is considered 'unfriendly' by the Kremlin.
Georgescu said "Attempts are being made to attribute a real election result to any institution, including TikTok, but none of the media and current politicians attribute real credibility to the Romanian people."
The Cause of the Recount
Georgescu's opponent Lasconi has a background in TV journalism. She was elected mayor of Câmpulung in 2020 and is more supportiveof Romanian involvement in NATO and the EU.
In a separate development to the Tiktok/Russia allegations, Lasconi's party was accused by one of the losing candidates of campaigning online after the legal deadline. It was this claim that led the Constitutional Court to order reverification and a revote of the first round votes.
Lasconi has condemned the court's decision for a recount. 'The Constitutional Court is playing with national security... Extremism is fought through voting, not back room games.'
