In Bucharest and London
EPARomanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has lost his appeal against a ruling barring him from participating in May’s presidential election.
The Constitutional Court issued the final ruling on Tuesday afternoon after deliberating for two hours.
A large crowd who were gathered outside the court in Bucharest shouted “traitors” and “we are going nowhere”.
The Central Electoral Bureau had earlier rejected Georgescu’s candidacy for a rerun of the presidential election in May.
Georgescu had won the first round of last year’s presidential vote, but it was annulled after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in setting up almost 800 TikTok accounts backing him.
On Sunday, the election bureau said Georgescu’s candidacy did not “meet the conditions of legality”, as he “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.
Georgescu appealed that verdict the following day.
Many of the protesters outside the court had Romanian flags draped around their shoulders.
They chanted “Calin Georgescu is president” and “freedom”, and condemned the judges as traitors. One woman had a sign that read “Stop dictatorship”.
It took a while for news of the ruling upholding the ban to reach the crowd. When it did, there were loud “boos” directed at the judges inside.
The crowd soon became noisy and angry, saying they had come to the streets to defend democracy.
Calin Georgescu, the man they support, has come from the far-right fringes of Romanian politics, but he is now at the forefront and promises to make Romania great again.
Many Romanians believe he is being blocked by a political elite that is corrupt and remote from the people.
The presidential election was cancelled after Georgescu won the first round in November 2024, when intelligence was released suggesting a giant TikTok promotion campaign for Georgescu had been backed by Russia.
To European leaders and many in Romania it looked like Russia was trying to weaken Europe and undermine its liberal values.
That is still the opinion of many Romanians who fear a man who admires Vladimir Putin and dislikes Nato.
However, the crowd out on the streets of Bucharest on Tuesday evening were shouting about democracy and freedom. They were demanding the right to vote for Georgescu and they have been denied that.
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