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Romania prohibited the far -right lender during the country’s presidential vote to participate in the elections, in a decision which he denounced as “tyranny” and which came despite the warnings of the Trump administration to respect the wishes of voters.
The country’s electoral office said on Sunday that he invalidated Călin Georgescu’s candidacy after receiving objections alleging that he had raped laws against extremism.
Georgescu denounced what he said was “a direct blow to the heart of democracy in the world”. In a message published on X, he added: “Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!”
The candidate now has 24 hours to file a complaint, that the Constitutional Court has 48 overtime to assess, which means that the final decision on a ban is scheduled for Wednesday evening at the latest.
The repeated elections were planned for May 4 and 18 after a first round in November were canceled by the Constitutional Court following allegations of Russian interference in favor of Georgescu.
Recent polls have suggested that he was the favorite, some citing him more than 40% support.
The American vice-president, JD Vance, denounced the cancellation of last year’s elections as an indication of European decline on democracy. Vance accused the Romanian authorities of bowing before “fragile” information and alleged pressure from other European capitals.
Georgescu supporters clashed with the police in Bucharest after hearing about the result.
The electoral authority, the beak, said about his reasoning behind the decision later Sunday that she prohibited Georgescu in part for the same reasons as the first elections had been canceled in December.
“It is unacceptable when reducing elections to consider that the same person meets the conditions necessary to access the presidency.”
Elon Musk, the ally of Donald Trump and the billionaire who supports Georgescu, called the “crazy” movement in a post on X.
The electoral office said it received more than 1,000 complaints against Georgescu’s offer, mainly linked to extremism and its approval of the country’s second world war fascist leaders.
“Any prohibition by Georgescu is linked to his legislation against him,” said the Romanian member of Center-Droit Siegfried Mureșan to the FT. “We must not be the victim of his story by claiming that his prohibition is caused by his political success.”
The far -right candidate gave Nazi salvation after being questioned by prosecutors in a criminal investigation relating to his association with fascist groups and alleged attempts to undermine the constitutional order.
Sunday’s decision is likely to anger many Romanians who have long rejected traditional parties as being corrupt and ineffective.
The far -right parties have checked a third of the Romanian legislature from a separate election in December.
George Simion, leader of the largest group of this type in Parliament, described the decision on Sunday as “continuation of the coup” for the previous cancellation. He previously declared that if Georgescu was barred, he would run in his place.
Several other candidates have submitted offers for the presidency with Georgescu, notably the mayor of Bucharest, Sucușor Dan and Crin Antonescu, which is supported by several traditional parties.
