Romania’s Far-Right Presidential Candidate Challenges Ban After Riots in Bucharest
The decision follows overnight unrest in the capital after a court disqualified far-right candidate Calin Georgescu from the race.
Romania’s far-right presidential candidate, Calin Georgescu, plans to challenge the decision barring him from participating in the rerun of the presidential election scheduled for May.
The pro-Russian politician announced on social media on Monday that he would appeal to Romania’s Constitutional Court to overturn the ban imposed on him the previous day. His announcement came after violent clashes erupted between his supporters and police in Bucharest overnight.
“We go together all the way for the same values: peace, democracy, freedom,” Georgescu said in a video posted on Facebook.
The appeal and the unrest in the capital stem from a decision by Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) on Sunday to reject the NATO critic’s candidacy for the May 4 election.
Shortly after the BEC’s announcement, Georgescu’s supporters gathered in front of the electoral commission’s headquarters. The protest turned violent as participants broke through security barricades, overturning a broadcast van belonging to a television station perceived as supporting Georgescu’s rivals and setting fires.
Police responded with tear gas as rioters threw cobblestones and fireworks.
Some social media posts claimed that Romania was descending into turmoil, with suggestions that the events could spark a revolution or lead to the closure of borders. In the United States, CBS News described the country as tipping into “chaos.” However, the violence and the scale of the protests were limited.
‘European dictatorship’
The controversy surrounding Georgescu, who is known for his pro-Moscow stance, has placed Romania at the center of the growing rift between Europe and the administration of US President Donald Trump over issues such as military spending and the nature of democracy.
Georgescu had secured the top position in the first round of the election in November, but the results were later annulled due to evidence of suspected Russian interference.
US Vice President JD Vance claimed that the decision to bar Georgescu illustrates that Romania does not share US values. Meanwhile, the European Union has praised the independence of Romania’s courts.
Georgescu, who is currently under criminal investigation on multiple charges, including misleading information about campaign financing, has described the ruling as evidence that Europe is turning into a “dictatorship.” He warned, “If democracy falls in Romania, the entire democratic world will fall.”
If the BEC’s decision is upheld, the three ultranationalist parties that backed Georgescu’s previous presidential bid — which together hold 35 percent of the seats in Romania’s Parliament — risk having no candidate in the upcoming election.
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