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 mounting “aggressive” hybrid attacks against 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 and voting had already begun in Romanian diaspora communities in other countries. The court canceled the process completely, leaving voters bemused as they turned up to cast their ballots.

The Romanian government will now need to draw up a timeline for fresh presidential elections.

In a defiant video released on Friday night, Georgescu accused the court of launching “practically a formalized coup d’état” and told his supporters to show they are “brave” and not to give up.

“Today, the Romanian state has trampled on democracy,” Georgescu said. “We wrote history. It is time to show that we are a brave people. Democracy is under attack … On this day, the corrupt system made a pact with the devil. I have only one pact — with the Romanian people and God.

“The power lies in each one of us, the Romanian people do not give in. Be confident, be brave. Today is just the beginning of a new page in the history of this country.”

The current President Klaus Iohannis was due to end his term on Dec. 21. But in an address to the nation Friday evening, he announced that he will stay on until the next president is sworn in.

He explained how intelligence reports after the first round of voting raised concerns that the election had been unfairly influenced in Georgescu’s favor by a campaign “supported from a state foreign to Romania’s interests.”

That led him to order the intelligence files to be released to the public so Romanians could see for themselves what had happened, he said.

“Romania is a stable, safe and solid country,” Iohannis said in his televised address, trying to calm nervous allies and reassure markets. “I say this for the EU: Romania is and remains a safe, solid, pro-European country. I say this for NATO: Romania remains a safe, solid ally,” he said. “I think it’s very important that we all know: Romania is not in difficulty.” 

Stitch up

But the decision is highly controversial and risks being seen as a stitch-up by the political elite.

Politicians from both the far right as well as liberal reformists Save Romania Union (USR) party 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.

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, with thousands of pro-Europeans turning out to voice their support for maintaining the country’s international alliances. 

On Friday evening, police were out in force in central Bucharest, stationing vans and cars with blue lights flashing on the city’s main streets. In University Square, where the biggest pro-EU demonstration was held on Thursday, four police vans parked alongside several police cars, though no crowds had gathered by 7 p.m. local time.

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.

This developing story is being updated