Romanian court cancels presidential election amid Russian influence fears

BUCHAREST — Romania’s top constitutional court on Friday dramatically cancelled high-stakes presidential elections after security services warned Russia was conducting “aggressive” hybrid attacks on the Eastern European country.

The court decision plunged the strategically important EU and NATO member state into political chaos, inflaming divisions that opened up after a far-right outsider came from nowhere to win the first round in the presidential contest two weeks ago.

Ultranationalist Călin Georgescu benefited from a TikTok campaign that was similar to influence operations run by the Kremlin in Ukraine and Moldova, according to declassified Romanian intelligence documents. The files said Moscow was targeting Romania as an enemy state, using “aggressive hybrid action,” a view backed by the United States.

The second round runoff was due to be held on Sunday. That will now not take place, the statement said.

The decision will be highly controversial as politicians from both the far right as well as liberal reformists view an annulment as an attempt by the widely distrusted old establishment parties — the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) — to hold on to power by pulling strings within the judiciary.

Elena Lasconi, a liberal former TV journalist who was set to stand against Georgescu in the second round, was mortified by what she saw as a hijacking of the electoral process.

“Today is the moment when the Romanian state trampled over democracy. God, the Romanian people, the truth and the law will prevail and will punish those who are guilty of destroying our democracy,” she said immediately after the annulment.

The Romanian government will now need to draw up a timeline for fresh elections, the court said. 

Without precedent

Nicolae Ciucă, the head of the Romanian senate and the National Liberal Party’s presidential candidate in the first round called for “calm, unity and maturity” and said he supported all necessary efforts to clarify any suspicions and to guarantee a fair election.

The decision to cancel the vote was “without precedent in Romania’s democratic history,” he said, adding “the current situation is a difficult test for our democratic institutions.” 

The unexpected ruling risks destabilizing Romania, a strategically important NATO member of 19 million people on the eastern edge of the European Union.  

The shock win for Georgescu in the first round on Nov. 24 triggered widespread dismay among pro-Western centrists, and sparked demonstrations in central Bucharest. On Thursday night, thousands of pro-Europeans turned out to voice their support for maintaining the country’s international alliances. 

Georgescu’s fiery criticism of NATO and the EU — and his threat to end all assistance for Ukraine — stoked fears that Romania was on the brink of turning away from the West toward Moscow. 

‘Coup d’état’

The court’s decision follows dramatic revelations of alleged foreign influence on the contest. Earlier this week, the Romanian government declassified intelligence files that strongly suggested to a Russian-backed campaign to corrupt the election. 

The documents said 25,000 pro-Georgescu accounts on social media app TikTok burst into action just two weeks before the first-round vote. 

The risk now is that the court’s decision leaves millions of Georgescu’s supporters feeling angry and disenfranchised. 

“Shame!!! Coup d’état in full swing,” said George Simion, far-right AUR party leader who was backing Georgescu in the second round. He urged his supporters not to demonstrate in the streets against the court’s decision: “We are not taking to the streets, we will not be provoked. This system must fall democratically!”

Current Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who also stood as a presidential candidate, said the ruling was “the only fair solution” after the documents revealed the scale of the alleged interference operation. “The Romanians’ vote was blatantly distorted as a result of Russia’s intervention,” he said. “The presidential elections must be rerun.”

The court’s decision throws the government of Romania into complete confusion.

Nearly 48,000 Romanians abroad already voted in the second round of the presidential election. Romanians abroad had three days to vote, unlike those at home, who could only vote Sunday. Polls abroad opened Friday at noon local time, before the court canceled the first round and ordered the whole presidential election be redone.

Parliamentary elections held last week delivered a split result and a four-party coalition.

The current President Klaus Iohannis was due to end his term on Dec. 21 but local media reported he will stay on until the next president is sworn in after fresh elections.

That would mean Iohannis will approve a new prime minister, once the coalition government puts forward a name, to avoid a long period without a functioning government.

This developing story is being updated