Ultra-Nationalist Georgescu ousted in Romania’s presidential election

Brussels – In 100 days, Călin Georgescu went out of the frying pan into the fire. After savoring victory in Romania’s presidential elections on Nov. 24, the ultra-nationalist and pro-Russian candidate first had the ballot box result challenged, annulled by the Constitutional Court due to Moscow’s interference in the electoral process, and now has been ousted from the new elections scheduled for May 4. Yesterday (Mar. 9), the Romanian Election Commission confirmed that it had rejected his candidacy.

Another closed door for Georgescu, who saw his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for the November annulment rejected a few days ago. The Bucharest Election Commission, with 10 votes in favor and four against, rejected his new candidacy – supported by the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). The electoral authority (BEC) clarified that the basis for Georgescu’s exclusion from the presidential race was precisely the previous Constitutional Court decision: “It is inadmissible that, when repeating elections, the same person is considered to meet the necessary conditions to enter the presidency,” the BEC explained.

Now, Georgescu has 24 hours to file a complaint which the Constitutional Court has another 48 hours to consider: the saga could then finally come to a close on the evening of Wednesday, Mar. 12. Meanwhile, the 62-year-old, who, according to several polls has over 40 percent support in the country, immediately threw gasoline on the fire: “A direct blow to the heart of world democracy!”  he said in a post on X.  “Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!” Already last night, several hundred enraged far-right supporters tried to storm the election office in Bucharest, dispersed by security forces with tear gas.

Immediately coming to Georgescu’s defense was George Simion, leader of the AUR and vice chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (led until a few months ago by Giorgia Meloni). Simion accused Romania of being “a totalitarian police state,” calling the electoral authority’s decision “a clear continuation of the coup d’état” that began with the annulment of the November election results. Simion had previously said that he would run in his place if Georgescu were excluded. Simion could count on the support of the three far-right parties – his AUR, SOS Romania, and the Youth Party – which, in the elections to renew parliament that the Social Democrats won in early December, totaled 31 percent of the vote.

Italian deputy premier Matteo Salvini also spoke of a coup, a “Soviet-style Euro-coup.” The League leader, in a post on X, expressed his closeness “to the many Romanian citizens who, at home and in Italy, are robbed of their right to vote by a very serious theft of democracy.” Salvini’s chosen words allude to Brussels’ involvement (which opened an investigation into TikTok to assess Georgescu’s excessive content exposure during the election campaign) in the affair, in line with the aggressive narrative of the new US administration: the US vice president, JD Vance denounced the annulment of last year’s elections as an indication of the backsliding of democracy in Europe, accusing Romanian authorities of bowing to “fragile” information and alleged pressure from other European capitals.