Election victory annulled

Romania: Mass demonstration for far-right candidate

Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets in Bucharest in support of Calin Georgescu.(Bild: AFP)

Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in the Romanian capital of Bucharest in support of the prevented far-right and pro-Russian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu. The participants marched through the city center and demanded, among other things, the resignation of incumbent President Klaus Iohannis.

The demonstrators also demanded that the Constitutional Court reverse its decision to declare the first round of the presidential election at the end of November invalid and order the election to be held again. The far-right party AUR had called for the rally.

The election was therefore annulled
Georgescu had surprisingly won first place in the first round of voting at the time. The Constitutional Court justified the annulment of the election on the grounds that the entire election process had been irregular. Among other things, the court argued that voters had been manipulated by unlawful preferential treatment of a candidate on social media.

Calin Georgescu had surprisingly won first place in the first round of voting at the time.(Bild: AFP/Octav Ganea)

Georgescu used to be a member of the extreme right-wing AUR, but resigned in the dispute. He advocates pro-Russian positions, wants to end support for Ukraine from NATO member Romania, spreads conspiracy theories and glorifies the pre-1945 Romanian fascists known as "legionnaires".

The new presidential election is due to take place on May 4. A possible run-off election is planned for May 18.