Proponents of the extreme right -wing and pro -Russian Calina Georgescu came out to the streets of the capital of Romania. This is a reaction to the decision of the Central Electoral Office, which announced that he would not allow the politician to start in repeated presidential elections. In the original date, in the autumn of last year, Georgescu won the most votes in the first round. Then the vote was annulled when the services detected Russian interference in the election campaign. The politician announces that he will not withdraw from the fight for power.
They tried to stop the police cordon and break into the building of the central election office. “The last resort is another revolution!” – chanted many protesters who gathered in Bucharest. Bottles, stones and firecrackers flew towards the services. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Supporters of Calina Georgescu went out into the streets after the Central Electoral Office stated that the pro -Russian extremely right -wing candidate could not start in the upcoming presidential election.
“This is a direct blow to the heart of democracy around the world! I have one message! If the democracy in Romania falls, the whole democratic world falls! This is just the beginning. This is so simple! Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is in power of tyranny!” – we read in the entry Calina Georgescu, a former candidate for president of Romania.
Georgescu and Moscow deny the accusations of Russian interference
Unexpectedly Calin Georgescu – a politician skeptical about NATO and help of Ukraine – won the first round of the November presidential election. However, at the beginning of December, two days before the second round, the Romanian constitutional court annulled the election and stated that voting must be repeated. Earlier, the then President Klaus Iohannis gave the court declassified documents of the services to indicate that Russia's interference took place in the election trial. Both Georgescu and Moscow deny these accusations.
– Thank you to all citizens for what they do. But I call for peace. Let's not resort to violence as it happened on Sunday evening. We are moving forward with great faith in the future of our country – says Calin Georgescu.
Calin Georgescu will not be able to take part in the repetition of the presidential election in RomaniaKatarzyna Sławińska/Fakty TVN
The 62-year-old registered his candidacy on Friday. The Central Electoral Office had 48 hours to accept or reject it. In his decision, he referred to last year's decision of the Constitutional Court, claiming that the politician violated the election provisions.
“It would be unacceptable that as part of the resumed electoral process, the same person would be recognized as authorized to apply for the office of the president,” we read in the statement of the Central Electoral Office of Romania.
– This is not a democratic way, it's just nonsense – comments Victoria, a resident of Bucharest.
– I don't know what evidence they have to annul his candidacy. If the evidence exists, it was a democratic decision, but they have not yet shown evidence – says Stefan, a resident of Bucharest.
Allegations of the prosecutor's office against Georgescu
At the end of February, the Romanian prosecutor's office initiated an investigation against Georgescu. She accused him, among others, irregularities in financing the election campaign, spreading hate speech and acting against the constitutional order. The politician was detained and then covered by court supervision. He is forbidden to leave the country.
– Nothing surprises me anymore. It reminds me of the mentality and communist system of the 1950s – comments Calin Georgescu.
The decision of the Central Electoral Office caused indignation among right -wing politicians. Italian deputy prime minister – Matteo Salvini – called the rejection of Georgescu's candidacy “European coup in the Soviet style.”
– First they annul the elections he won, then arrest him, and then exclude him from the election, because they are afraid that he will win. Instead of “arming Europe again”, we must rebuild it to defend democracy – says Matteo Salvini, Italian deputy prime minister.
Donald Trump's administration pressed Romanian officials to let Georgescu run. JD Vance Vice President during the Munich Safety Conference strongly criticized Romania for annulment of the election. Elon Musk stood on the side of the extreme right -wing politics, who called the Central Electoral Office on the Sunday decision.
The presidential election in Romania will take place on May 4. If Georgescu took part in the race, according to the polls he could count on support at about 40 percent, which would give him a real chance to win in the second round.
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Source of the main photo: CNN