Romania’s Constitutional Court Annuls Presidential Vote
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUCHAREST/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Romania has plunged into political turmoil as the country’s top court annulled its presidential elections and the upcoming runoff, which was initially scheduled for Sunday, December 8.
The Constitutional Court’s decision followed the surprise win of far-right pro-Russia candidate Călin Georgescu, who has raised doubts about the country’s NATO military alliance membership.
He was to face liberal Elena Lasconi, who is fiercely pro-NATO and pro-European Union and could become Romania’s first woman president.
Yet the judges’ unanimous ruling on Friday voids the entire electoral process, with the court citing “irregularities” after security sourcs, the European Union and American officials expressed concern about possible Russian interference.
The court’s decision requires a complete restart of the presidential elections, for which a new date has to be announced.
On Wednesday, the Romanian Security Council concluded that the country had been targeted by “Russian hybrid attacks” during the election campaign.
Georgescu allegedly benefited from a coordinated campaign on TikTok’s social media platform while claiming not to have spent any money.
RUSSIA’S DENIAL
Moscow has vehemently denied it interfered in Romania’s election process.
The moon-landing-denying Russian President-Vladimir-Poetin-embracing Georgescu was also favored by TikTok’s social media platform’s “algorithm,” making it easier to find his content, according to investigators.
The allegations of Russian interference raised concerns within Romania’s political establishment and within the European Union and the United States.
Romania shares the European Union’s longest border with war-torn Ukraine, to which it has donated a Patriot missile battery and opened its ports to allow the export of Kyiv’s grain.
Georgescu has questioned the benefits of NATO membership and pushed for the country of 19 million people to adopt a policy of “neutrality” towards its neighbor while praising Putin as one of the world’s “few true leaders.”
The EU fears he could move Romania towards a pro-Russia camp with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has come under pressure over his perceived authoritarian tendencies.
His opponent Lasconi even warned that a Georgescu victory “could push the country back toward Russia and the dark days of dictatorship.”
SOVIET UNION
Lasconi recalled that Romania was under the military and economic control of the Soviet Union until the late 1950s.
Soon after, it came under communist rule for four decades until 1989, when dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed and executed.
Following the first round of the presidential election, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, increased its surveillance of TikTok. This week, it ordered the company “to freeze all data” related to the Romanian vote.
Last Sunday, a new parliament was also elected between the two rounds of the presidential election.
Although the right-wing radical and pro-Russia nationalist parties increased their voter base, the pro-EU and pro-NATO parties still won a majority.
The Social Democrats, the Liberals, the reformist Save Romania Union (USR), the Hungarian minority party UDMR, and representatives of other ethnic minorities said they wanted “to prevent international isolation” for Romania.
They have already agreed to form a coalition with each other to govern this nation of 19 million people.
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