Romania's highest court annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election yesterday after accusations of Russian interference and said the entire process, which was supposed to end this weekend, must be repeated.
The Constitutional Court's ruling, which is final, comes two days after incumbent President Klaus Iohannis declassified and released intelligence suggesting Moscow ran a massive campaign involving thousands of social media accounts to promote a pro-Russian candidate. Kalina Georgeskua on platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.
Georgeska, who was virtually unknown before the first round of the November 24 presidential election, finished in first place, prompting questions about how such a surprise was possible.
The court's decision has caused political chaos in this strategically important EU and NATO member, fanning divisions that emerged after Georgescu's shock victory, and analysts believe the ruling could weaken institutions, spark street protests and ultimately further threaten the country's pro-Western course.
In the second round, which was scheduled for Sunday, and voting had already started at polling stations abroad, Georgeska and the pro-European candidate Elena Laskoni were supposed to face each other.
A public opinion poll conducted by the AtlasIntel agency on December 4 and 5 and reported by the hotnews.ro portal showed that Laskoni was slightly ahead of Georgesku with 48,6% to 46,4%, just a day after they were published. documents about alleged Russian intervention.
Documents released by the Supreme Security Council on Wednesday said the country was the target of "aggressive hybrid Russian attacks" during the election period.
"The process for the election of the President of Romania will be completely repeated, and the government will set a new date and... a calendar for the necessary steps," the Constitutional Court announced yesterday.
It is added that the decision was made "in order to ensure the fairness and legality of the election process".
According to "Politika", the decision will be considered very controversial, because politicians from both sides, both the radical right and liberal reformists, see the annulment as an attempt by the old political establishment, which has largely lost public trust, to retain power through first court system. This refers to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL).
"It is very likely that the court will not allow Kalin Georgesku to run again," political science professor Sergio Miskoiu told Reuters.
At the beginning of this year, the court banned the leader of the ultra-nationalist party and member of the European Parliament, Dijana Sosoaca, from running for president, which analysts assessed as exceeding the court's powers.
"There will be street protests, people will be radicalized and, depending on which radical-right candidate remains in the race, people will rally around him," Miskoiu said.
Laskoni, a liberal former TV journalist, yesterday criticized what she considers a hijacking of the election process. "Today is the moment when the Romanian state trampled on democracy. God, the Romanian people, the truth and the law will prevail and punish those who are guilty of destroying our democracy", she declared immediately after the annulment decision.
The decision was criticized by Georgi Simion, the leader of the opposition far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR), calling it a "coup". "Nine politically appointed judges, afraid that a candidate outside the system has every chance of becoming the president of Romania, decided to annul the will of the Romanians," he said.
However, Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Colaku supported the decision, calling it "the only correct solution after the publication of documents ... which show that the result of the Romanian vote was clearly distorted by Russian intervention".
The Romanian government will now have to make a timetable for new elections, the court said.
The current president, Klaus Johannis, whose mandate ends on December 21, said that he will remain in office until a new president is elected. He also said that Romania remains "a solid pro-European and NATO country".
Georgescu's shock victory in the first round on November 24 raised concerns among pro-Western centrists and sparked demonstrations in downtown Bucharest. Late Thursday, ahead of the now-cancelled second round of presidential elections, thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Bucharest, in support of democracy.
Romanian musicians, film directors, actors and civil activists expressed their support for Elena Laskonia, urging voters not to isolate the country from its allies and partners. An estimated 3.000 people chanted "Europe!" and "No to fascism", carrying banners that read "Democracy is in danger" and "Our children will be free".
Georgescu's harsh criticism of NATO and the EU - and his threat to freeze all aid to Ukraine - have fueled fears that Romania is turning away from the West and closer to a belt of states in central and eastern Europe with powerful populist, pro-Russian politicians, including Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
The second round of presidential elections would be the third consecutive vote, after the first round and parliamentary elections on December 1, in which far-right parties won a third of the seats, although the ruling Social Democrats emerged as the largest grouping and hope to form a pro-European coalition.
Parliamentary elections were not affected by yesterday's decision of the Constitutional Court.
Massively promoted, even though he didn't spend a cent on the campaign
"In one of the declassified documents, the Romanian intelligence agency said that Georgesku was massively promoted on the social network TikTok through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms and paid promotion. Georgesku said that he did not spend any funds on the campaign.
The intelligence service also said that access data to official Romanian election websites had been published on Russian cybercrime platforms. Access data was likely obtained by targeting legitimate users or exploiting a legitimate server, the agency said.
She added that more than 85.000 cyber attacks aimed at exploiting system vulnerabilities were identified.
Romania's anti-organized crime unit DIICOT said it was launching an investigation into Gorgevski's campaign after analyzing published documents.
Russia has denied any interference in Romanian election campaigns.
TikTok also denies giving Georgesku special treatment, saying his account was flagged as a political account and treated like any other.
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