The Constitutional Court cancels the presidential elections in Romania, after accusations of Russian interference

2024-12-06 15:01:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Constitutional Court cancels the presidential elections in Romania, after

The Constitutional Court of Romania has decided that the presidential elections, the runoff of which was expected to be held this weekend, should be completely annulled and new elections should be held.

The constitutionalist made this decision on Friday, saying that the government must now decide on the date of new presidential elections.

The far-right pro-Russian candidate, Calin Georgescu, shocked by winning the first round of the presidential election. But there was evidence that a major cyber campaign, orchestrated by Moscow, on TikTok in Georgescut's favor went unnoticed by the Romanian authorities.

Georgescu was expected to face the pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi in a runoff on Sunday, December 8.

Voting had begun in the diaspora in Romania's presidential runoff, which was seen as a referendum on the country's future in NATO and the European Union, because there have been many accusations that Russia interfered in the election.

Suspicions of Russian interference brought thousands of Romanians to the country's streets to protest in support of the country's membership in the Euro-Atlantic community.

Romanian authorities had decided to give the large diaspora two and a half days to vote, to avoid long waits at the country's foreign diplomatic missions.

Georgescu appeared to be the favorite to win the run-off, but in the latest polls Lasconi edged him out, after Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) released classified documents on Wednesday, revealing the country was targeted by an "act of aggression hybrid from Russia", which led to the surprising victory of the pro-Russian candidate.

Lasconi, a former TV presenter and mayor of the small town of Kampulung, had a two percent lead over Georgescut, according to a poll published Thursday by AltasIntel.

Georgescu's victory in the first round raised fears and sparked protests, especially among young Romanians, about the country's democratic future.

On Thursday, around 3,000 people marched in Budapest demanding that Romania stay on its pro-European path. They then gathered in the capital's square, where they chanted "Freedom" and "Europe".

According to the declassified documents, Romania's intelligence service believes that Georgescu was massively promoted on TikTok with support from Russia, through multiple methods, including coordinated accounts, algorithms to increase his presence on the platform and paid promotion.

The documents explain how Georgescut's popularity rose from 1 percent just before the race to 22 percent, through an extensive manipulation operation that involved influencers and deceived Romanian institutions as well as ordinary voters.

The declassified documents show that TikTok influencers were recruited to promote Georgescu, both directly by publicly endorsing him and indirectly through neutral messages containing hashtags associated with him.

Romanian intelligence services hinted that large sums of money were spent on this operation. Georgescu has declared before the Romanian electoral authorities that he has not spent anything on his campaign.

The intelligence service linked the operation to Russia, noting that access data for Romania's official election websites were published on Russian cybercrime platforms.

Russia has denied any interference in the Romanian elections./ REL