Romania: Right-wing extremist sues against election cancellation in Romania

The right-wing extremist Calin Georgescu is taking legal action against the cancellation of the first round of the presidential election in Romania. Georgescu has filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, said his lawyer Maria Vasii, according to Romanian media.

In the ballot on November 24th, the right-wing extremist and Russia-friendly politician completely unexpectedly won first place. However, the Romanian Constitutional Court declared the result invalid and ordered a repeat of the election because the entire electoral process was irregular.

Georgescu is now reportedly demanding that the ECHR oblige the Romanian state to reverse the annulment of the first round of voting and organize a second round of voting. After the Constitutional Court’s decision, the entire election process must be repeated, including the examination of the candidates. There are no new dates for this yet.

The court had canceled the election because of manipulation

The Constitutional Court argued, among other things, that voters had been manipulated in the election by illegally giving preferential treatment to a candidate on social media. Georgescu, who was little known until shortly before the election, promoted himself primarily on the Tiktok app. Tiktok failed to label Georgescu as a politician and his posts as election advertising, the Romanian government complained. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating this

Georgescu has already tried to legally defend himself against the election annulment in Romania. The Court of Appeal in Bucharest rejected his application at the end of December 2024. The plaintiff now has the option of appealing to the country’s highest court.