Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Romania has banned the far-right frontrunner in the country’s presidential vote from taking part in the election, in a move he denounced as “tyranny” and which came despite Trump administration warnings to respect voters’ wishes.
The country’s electoral bureau said on Sunday it was invalidating Călin Georgescu’s candidacy after receiving objections alleging that he had violated laws against extremism.
Georgescu denounced what he said was “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”. In a message posted on X, he added: “Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!”
The candidate now has 24 hours to lodge a complaint, which the constitutional court has a further 48 hours to assess, meaning the final decision on a ban is set to come by Wednesday evening at the latest.
The repeat elections have been scheduled for May 4 and 18 after a first round in November was annulled by the constitutional court following allegations of Russian meddling in favour of Georgescu.
Recent polls have suggested he is the frontrunner, with some quoting more than 40 per cent support for him.
US vice-president JD Vance has denounced the annulment of last year’s election as an indication of European backsliding on democracy. Vance accused Romanian authorities of bowing to “flimsy” intelligence and alleged pressure from other European capitals.
Georgescu’s supporters clashed with police in Bucharest after hearing of the outcome.
The electoral authority, the BEC, said of its reasoning behind the decision later on Sunday that it was barring Georgescu partly on the same grounds that the first election had been annulled in December.
“It is inadmissible when rerunning the election to consider that the same person meets the conditions needed to accede to the presidency.”
Elon Musk, the Donald Trump ally and billionaire who supports Georgescu, called the move “crazy” in a post on X.
The electoral bureau said it had received more than 1,000 complaints against Georgescu’s bid, mostly related to extremism and his endorsement of the country’s second world war fascist leaders.
“Any barring of Georgescu is linked to him breaking legislation,” the centre-right Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan told the FT. “One should not fall victim to his narrative pretending his barring is caused by his political success.”
The far-right candidate gave the Nazi salute after being questioned by prosecutors in a criminal probe relating to his association with fascist groups and alleged attempts to undermine the constitutional order.
Sunday’s decision is likely to further anger many Romanians who have long rejected mainstream parties as being corrupt and inefficient.
Far-right parties have controlled a third of Romania’s legislature since a separate election in December.
George Simion, leader of the biggest such group in parliament, labelled Sunday’s decision as a “continuation of the coup d’état” of the previous annulment. He has previously said that, should Georgescu be barred, he would run in his place.
Several other candidates have submitted bids for the presidency along with Georgescu, including Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan and Crin Antonescu, who is backed by several mainstream parties.