Romania's highest court annuls presidential election result By Reuters

By Luiza Ilie

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania's highest court annulled the ongoing presidential election after accusations of Russian interference and ruled on Friday that the entire process, which was due to conclude this weekend, should be restarted.

The second round was scheduled for Sunday and voting has already started in polling stations abroad. This would have pitted Calin Georgescu, a far-right pro-Russian candidate, against centrist pro-European Union leader Elena Lasconi.

“The electoral process to elect the Romanian president will be fully restarted and the government will set a new date and timetable for the necessary steps,” the court said in a statement.

Georgescu performed in the single digits in opinion polls before the first round on November 24, but then rose to first place, raising questions about the result.

Georgescu wants to end Romanian support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion. If he wins the presidency, it would upend the pro-Western policies of the EU and NATO members, bringing Romania closer to a belt of Central and Eastern European states that have powerful populist politicians favoring Russia, notably Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. .

Friday's court decision plunged the country into institutional chaos.

Current President Klaus Iohannis' term ends on December 21, but he said in a televised speech that he would stay in his post until a successor is elected, meaning he will appoint a prime minister after a parliamentary vote on December 1.

Analysts said the court's decision could erode institutions, spark street protests and ultimately further endanger the country's pro-Western trajectory. It was not yet clear whether Georgescu would be allowed to participate in the new elections.

“(This decision) shows the weaknesses of the Romanian state, the vulnerabilities of the institutions which were not able to identify Russian interference from the beginning of the process,” said Laura Stefan, a lawyer at the think tank Expert Forum.

Romania's top security council on Wednesday declassified documents claiming the country was the target of “aggressive Russian hybrid attacks” during the election period.

Russia has denied any interference in Romania's election campaigns.

The highest court, which validated the first presidential round on Monday, said in its Friday ruling that the declassified documents showed that the entire electoral process had been marred by vote manipulation, campaign irregularities and improper financing. transparent.

In a statement to Realitatea television channel, Georgescu called the court's decision an “official coup,” proof of what he sees as a corrupt system showing its face.

Lasconi condemned the court's decision. “The decision of the Constitutional Court is illegal, amoral and crushes the very essence of democracy, voting,” she said.

Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, however, supported the decision, calling it “the only correct solution.”

SURVEY CAMPAIGN

Romania's organized crime prosecution unit, DIICOT, announced it was opening an investigation into Georgescu's campaign after analyzing the declassified documents.

Sunday's second round of voting would have been the third consecutive vote after the first presidential round and legislative elections in which far-right parties won a third of the seats, although the ruling Social Democrats emerged as the largest group and hope to concoct a pro-European coalition government party.

The parliamentary vote was not affected by Friday's court ruling. The new government will have the task of setting the new timetable for the presidential elections, Iohannis said.

In one of the declassified documents, Romanian intelligence said Georgescu was heavily promoted on the social media platform TikTok through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms and paid promotions. Georgescu said there was no money spent on the campaign.

TikTok denies giving special treatment to Georgescu, saying his account was labeled a political account and treated like others.

Intelligence services also said that connection data to official Romanian election sites had been published on Russian cybercrime platforms. It added that it had identified more than 85,000 cyberattacks aimed at exploiting system vulnerabilities.

Some experts predict that Georgescu will not be able to run again.

“It is extremely likely that the court will not allow Calin Georgescu to run again,” said Sergiu Miscoiu, professor of political science at Babes-Bolyai University.

In October, the court barred Diana Sosoaca, the ultranationalist party leader and MEP, from running for president, a decision that analysts said exceeded the court's powers.

“There will be street protests. People will become radicalized and depending on which radical right candidate remains in the running, people will rally around him,” Miscoiu said.

Romanian hard currency bonds rose following this decision. Dollar-denominated issues saw the biggest gains, with the 2048 bond rising 0.7 cents to 81.15 cents on the dollar, its highest level since mid-November, data showed from Tradeweb.

The court's decision “was followed by a positive reaction in Romanian financial markets, probably because investors assessed the risk of a deterioration in relations with the EU and NATO,” Capital Economics said.

“Taking a step back, however, we still believe there are many reasons for concern, suggesting that the resumption of relief will prove fleeting.”