Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.
Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.
Amid claims of “massive” social media manipulation, he was placed under criminal investigation last month on six charges including false statements about his campaign financing, fraudulent use of digital technologies and promoting fascist organisations. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Romania’s central election bureau said on Sunday it had decided to bar Georgescu’s candidacy for the rerun of the first-round vote, scheduled for May, ruling that it was inadmissible after the constitutional court’s annulment of the November vote.
The decision drew sharp criticism from Washington, with the US presidential adviser Elon Musk posting on Sunday: “This is crazy!” The billionaire returned to the subject on Monday, asking: “How can a judge end democracy in Romania?”
The US vice-president, JD Vance, had previously said the annulment of the first-round vote showed Romania did not share American values. Georgescu, 62, a former government official, is leading in the polls and was projected to win about 40% of votes in May.
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right Lega party, called the bureau’s decision a “Soviet-style Euro-coup”, while Georgescu said it was “just the beginning … Europe is now a dictatorship. Romania is under tyranny!”
In a video on Facebook, Georgescu added: “We go all the way for the same values: peace, democracy, freedom.” He urged his supporters, who clashed with police on Sunday night, to refrain from violent protests.
Scores of Georgescu voters rallied in Bucharest to express their anger, many waving Romanian flags and chanting “Thieves!” and “the last resort is another revolution!” Some threw broken paving stones at riot police.
The constitutional court is expected to rule on Georgescu’s appeal on Wednesday but is thought unlikely to find in his favour. It has previously barred another far-right candidate, arguing that her anti-EU, pro-Russian views made her unfit for office.
Georgescu has lauded Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, as “a man who loves his country” and praised Romania’s 1930s fascist leaders. The promotion of fascist leaders and Nazi, racist or xenophobic symbols is banned under Romanian law.
If the court upholds the election bureau’s decision, three ultranationalist parties that backed Georgescu’s candidacy and have 35% of the seats in Romania’s parliament risk not being on the ballot for the rerun, opening the way for another candidate.
George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), could put his name forward. He described the election bureau’s decision as “a new episode … in a coup d’état ” and a “black page in our fragile democracy”.
Simion, 38, said on Monday that the bureau “does not have the right to reject a candidate when all the requirements regarding documents, signatures and forms have been met”. He said he would back Georgescu “to the end” but did not have high hopes.
Sergiu Miscoiu, a professor of political science at Babes-Bolyai University, said he believed that even if the US “reacts badly”, it would be riskier to let Georgescu run than to bar him since his victory could derail Romania’s pro-western orientation.
Many of Georgescu’s supporters and some politicians from other parties, including Elena Lasconi, the president of the centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) party, who finished second in the cancelled presidential election, cried foul.
Lasconi, 52, who has previously called on prosecutors to provide their evidence against Georgescu, said in a statement that the election bureau – which has said only that his candidacy would be “unacceptable” – must provide its reasoning as soon as possible.
“Decisions must be explained,” she said, “otherwise people will become furious, suspicious and prone to conspiracies.”
Georgescu had been polling in single digits before the election and had declared zero campaign spending. The first round of the rerun is scheduled for 4 May, with the second round run-off on 18 May.
