Romania’s pro-Russia presidential candidate to fight election ban
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Cǎlin Georgescu to contest decision to bar him from election rerun in May after claims of Russian meddling

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  by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.

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, , 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 …  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.

Supporters of far-right candidate Cǎlin Georgescu confront riot police outside Romania’s central electoral bureau on Sunday.



Supporters of far-right candidate Cǎlin Georgescu confront riot police outside Romania’s central electoral bureau on Sunday. Photograph: Inquam Photos/George Calin/Reuters

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”.

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