Romanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has appealed against the country’s Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) decision to bar him from participating in May’s presidential election.
Constitutional court judges will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Georgescu’s appeal, and a final ruling should be issued by Wednesday evening.
The BEC rejected his candidacy on Sunday after a 10-4 vote, saying it did not “meet the conditions of legality”, as Georgescu “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.
Last year, the court annulled November’s first round of the vote – in which Georgescu came first – after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.
In his appeal, Georgescu said that the “BEC exceeded its legal powers”. He also argued that the constitutional court’s decision on the November election should have no bearing on his candidacy for the upcoming vote in May.
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In a social media post, Georgescu also called the ban a “direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.
The electoral bureau’s decision sparked unrest in Bucharest on Sunday evening. Clashes broke out between police and Georgescu supporters who had gathered in their thousands outside the offices of the BEC.
The BBC saw at least one car turned over, and the windows of neighbouring bars smashed. At least four people were detained. More protests are expected on Monday and beyond.
Georgescu put out a video on social media thanking the Romanian people but adding that “we should not give birth to violence or other forms of this kind compared to how it was last night. We are moving forward with great confidence for the future of this country”.
George Simion, an ally of Georgescu and the leader of the far-right opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), parliament’s second-largest party, said on Monday that Romania was “the midst of a coup d’état”.
In a video on Sunday night, George Simion called for “those who committed the coup to be skinned in public for what they did… Whether you like Calin Georgescu or not, he is the man Romanians voted for”.
The Romanian prosecutor general has opened a case against Simion for instigation of violence, and on Monday he rowed back on the comments, saying he was using a “metaphor”.
On 26 February, Georgescu was detained for questioning on his way to register as a candidate in the May election, prompting tens of thousands of Romanians to march on Bucharest’s streets in protest.
Georgescu – a fierce EU and Nato critic – came out of almost nowhere last year to lead the first round two weeks ago amid allegations of Russian interference. He has since seen some support from the Trump administration.
Last month, US Vice-President JD Vance accused Romania of annulling the elections based on the “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and pressure from its neighbours.
And Trump adviser Elon Musk posted on X, saying: “How can a judge end democracy in Romania?”