Politician in Romania’s far-right lost appeal on presidential elections

BUCHAREST — Romanian far-right politician Calin Georgescu lost an appeal Tuesday against a decision barring him from running in a re-run of the country’s presidential election, as hundreds whiled away hours protesting outside the court.

Georgescu’s candidacy for a re-run of last year’s annulled presidential election in May was rejected on Sunday by Romania’s electoral bureau, triggering violent clashes and deepening the uncertainty in the EU and NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Georgescu had appealed that ruling. But the constitutional court on Tuesday dismissed it.

“The appeal was unanimously rejected,” the court said in a statement. Reasoning was to be published later.

The ruling is not appealable in Romania, marking the end of Georgescu’s meteoric rise since he burst onto the scene last November, when he surprised observers by leading a first round of presidential voting. The second round never happened, as the election was cancelled.

George Simion, head of the far-right AUR party, which is backing Georgescu, accused the court of “mocking the Romanian people” and “attacking our democracy and our essential rights and freedoms”.

‘Thieves’ –

Outside the court, several hundred Georgescu supporters yelled “thieves” after news of the court’s decision spread.

“This is not a democracy anymore. What are we living in? A dictatorship,” Marius Vasile, a 51-year-old pensioner, told AFP earlier.

“We want to vote who we want… It’s him (Georgescu) who we want. “We don’t need anyone else,” said Marinela Simona Cheosa, a 45-year-old engineer brandishing a large Romanian flag.

Georgescu, a former senior government official now aged 62, presented his appeal on Monday, arguing that the ruling banning him was “blatantly unlawful”.

The staunch critic of the EU and NATO both shocked and delighted pundits last November when he topped the first round of a presidential election as an independent.

In a surprising move that is rare for the European Union, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the ballot just ahead of the second-round vote in December, following accusations of Russian interference as well as a “massive” social media promotion of Georgescu.

Georgescu, who once claimed to have been a fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and lately “ultra pro” US President Donald Trump, denies any ties to Moscow.

On Sunday, the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) announced that, in light of the top court’s cancelation of the results of the November election, it had rejected Georgescu’s candidacy for May’s re-run.

Hundreds protested the decision late Sunday, and clashes between demonstrators and law-enforcement officers left 13 people injured.

Three men, aged 43, 48 and 50, have been indicted for allegedly engaging in “acts of violence” during the protests, the prosecutors said on Tuesday.

US senior officials have rallied around Georgescu who polling indicated could win in the May re-run by about 40 percent.

“This is crazy!” In response to the electoral bureau’s decision, Trump adviser Elon Musk posted on X Sunday.