Romania in chaos: Constitutional court canceled the presidential election!

Romania in chaos: Constitutional court canceled the presidential election!

In Romania, the constitutional court decided to cancel the presidential election, which was won in the first round on November 24 by the pro-Russian right-wing extremist Calin Georgescu. This decision is made just two days before the planned runoff election, in which Georgescu should compete against the pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi. According to the court, the election was not free because intelligence skills indicate a Russian interference that was supported by 85,000 cyber attacks and an aggressive social media campaign on TikTok. These actions, known as the hybrid attack, should secure Georgescus election success what the public prosecutor is now driving forward by initiating investigations into computer crime, such as Deutschlandfunk reported.

The repetition of the election is expected to take place in the new year, although it remains unclear who will exercise the office of head of state until then. The term of the outgoing President Klaus Johannis ends on December 21. In the political scene, the decision of the constitutional court is controversial. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu supports the cancellation and sees it as necessary to ensure the integrity of the election process. Elena Lasconi, on the other hand, describes the decision as "illegal and immoral" because it is convinced that he has won the runoff election, like

The uncovered machinations throw a bright light on the growing concern of foreign influence in Romanian elections. While Georgescu was initially behind Lasconi in surveys, he experienced unexpected popularity through manipulative propaganda. Experts suspect that the court will hardly enable him to vote again, which could also destabilize Romania's political landscape, especially in view of the increasing challenges through power struggles and foreign interventions.