After the spectacular cancellation of the presidential election last year in Romania, the far -right candidate Calin Georgescu saw his candidacy rejected on Sunday March 9 by the electoral commission, a decision which provoked violent protests from his supporters.
According to the body which is based on the judgment rendered in December by the Constitutional Court, and not on procedural reasons, “it does not meet the conditions of legality” because it has violated “the democratic rules of an honest and impartial suffrage”.
The sixties, who is a favorite in polls with some 40 % of voting intentions, denounced on X “a direct blow to democracy in the world”. “Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania lives under tyranny!”, He said.
When the invalidation of his candidacy was announced, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the building in Bucharest, shouting “down the dictatorship”. After first incidents at the beginning of the evening, the situation stretched again in the night in reaction to the publication by the electoral office of the motivations of its decision, seriously seeming to compromise the future of Calin Georgescu. Even if an appeal is possible, “it is a sign for the time being its ko,” said lawyer Silvia Uscov for AFP, who closely follows the file.
The gendarmes had to disperse on several occasions with tear gas a “violent” crowd which tried to force the dam to enter the premises, throwing bottles and firecrackers, according to several press releases. Two officers were injured.
Suspicions of Russian interference
Romania has switched to turmoil since the first round of the presidential election, held on November 24, 2024, which brought up on the Calin Georgescu political scene, hitherto almost unknown. A rare fact in the European Union, the Constitutional Court has canceled this ballot against the backdrop of suspicions of Russian interference and new elections are scheduled for May in a feverish climate.
Tens of thousands of sympathizers from Calin Georgescu have since descended in the street to denounce a “coup” dictated by Brussels, while the Romanian authorities warn against “a series of hybrid actions” of Moscow.
Very critical of the EU and NATO, this former senior official is opposed to sending Ukraine aid and above all advocates the search for “peace”, a usual positioning among the proponents of Russian rhetoric.
Suspected of having benefited from an illicit support campaign on the Tiktok platform, it was charged last week for multiple chiefs, in particular “false declarations” of campaign financing and “incitement to disorders of the constitutional order”.
His surprise ascent has aroused concern within the European allies of Romania, which has become an essential pillar of the Atlantic Alliance since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Support by JD Vance and Elon Musk
But Calin Georgescu can now count on the support of part of the new American administration. “It’s madness!”, Reacted Elon Musk on Sunday, close adviser to President Donald Trump, at the announcement of the decision of the electoral commission, after several similar comments in recent weeks. US vice-president JD Vance has also castigated Romanian authorities “canceling elections with which they do not like the results”. “They are so afraid of their people that they silence it,” he said.
Encouraged by such declarations, the sympathizers of the far-right candidate deployed this weekend in the capital a banner calling for help “President Trump”. “Help us recover our country!”, Could we read.