Romanian far-right politician and Russian supporter Calin Georgescu has refrained from endorsing any other candidate after being definitively barred from standing in May’s presidential election rerun.
On March 11, Romania’s top court upheld the decision to ban Georgescu from participating in the election, leaving his allies with only four days to find a replacement.
Georgescu, in a message on his Facebook page, urged voters to support any candidate according to their conscience. “If you want to support any person, I ask you to do it as your conscience dictates,” he said.
The 62-year-old politician ran as an independent in last year's presidential election, but the results were annulled by Romania’s top court in December due to undeclared funding and allegations of Russian meddling, which were denied by both Moscow and Georgescu.
The annulment of the election has placed Romania at the center of a dispute between the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump and European countries over the nature of democracy. U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized the annulment, saying it was inconsistent with American values.
Georgescu submitted his candidacy on Friday, but the central election authority rejected it two days later, leading to a small but violent clash between his supporters and the police. Several hundred protesters gathered outside the top court to support Georgescu, shouting "Thieves" and "Freedom."
The court's decision to reject Georgescu’s appeal is final and cannot be challenged. The court stated the decision was unanimous. Georgescu remains the top choice for voters in the May election according to opinion polls, though his endorsement does not guarantee success.
Hundreds of people joined a rally outside Romania’s Constitutional Court on March 11 as it decided whether to uphold the ban on Georgescu running in the May presidential election.
Some protesters chanted and waved Romanian flags in front of the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, while a woman held a picture of the far-right candidate in front of a police officer.
Romania’s top court upheld the central election authority’s decision to bar the pro-Russian politician from running in the election while the protests continued.
Georgescu had won the first round of the cancelled election as an independent, but the Constitutional Court annulled the results in December due to allegations of Russian interference.
The election annulment has also placed Romania in the middle of a growing dispute between the U.S. administration and European countries over how democratic values should be defined.
Several members of the Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk, have called the annulment an example of European governments suppressing free speech and political opponents.
"I have this message for President Trump," one of Georgescu’s supporters said into a megaphone. "Altogether we will win this election in front of this government."
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