Romanian Presidential Candidate Whose Result Was Annulled Is Detained by Prosecutors

Calin Georgescu in Izvorani, Romania, on Dec. 4, 2024. Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo

Independent right-wing populist Calin Georgescu, who won the first round of Romania’s presidential election in November 2024 before the result was annulled by the country’s top court, was detained on Feb. 26 by prosecutors, who announced a criminal investigation into his campaign.

“Calin Georgescu was about to submit his new candidacy for the presidency. About 30 minutes ago, the system stopped him in traffic, and he was taken in for questioning at the General Prosecutor’s Office!” a spokesperson stated in a message posted on the politician’s Facebook account. “Where is democracy now? Where are the partners who should be defending democracy?”

After questioning Georgescu for several hours on Feb. 26, prosecutors said they had opened criminal proceedings against the 62-year-old for alleged offenses including “incitement to actions against the constitutional order, spreading false information, and false declarations” regarding electoral campaign financing and asset disclosures.

Prosecutors also said he is accused of “founding or supporting fascist, racist, xenophobic, or anti-Semitic organizations, as well as publicly promoting war criminals and extremist ideologies.”

Georgescu, who campaigned primarily on TikTok, won the most votes in the first round of the election, eliminating Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democrat Party, the current prime minister.

Initially polling in single digits, Georgescu declared zero campaign spending.

On Dec. 6, 2024, Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the first-round results, after declassified documents from the country’s intelligence service alleged Georgescu had been promoted on TikTok through a series of coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid promotion.

Allegations of Russian interference and electoral violations quickly emerged. Russia denied accusations it meddled in the election.

The declassified files alleged that one TikTok user paid 362,000 euros ($381,000) to other users to promote Georgescu’s content.

The Romanian secret service said it had obtained information revealing an aggressive campaign to accelerate Georgescu’s popularity.

In December 2024, the U.S. State Department expressed concern upon the release of the declassified report, saying foreign interference would affect the security cooperation pact between the United States and Romania.

Georgescu had campaigned against NATO and the European Union. In a 2021 interview, he referred to NATO’s ballistic missile defense shield, located in the Romanian town of Deveselu, as a “shame of diplomacy.”

He has argued NATO would not protect its members if attacked by Russia and has advocated for closer ties with the Kremlin and reduced support for Ukraine.

Several members of the Trump administration have criticized Romania for annulling the election.

Vice President JD Vance said the cancellation meant Romania does not share the values of the United States, while billionaire Elon Musk criticized the chief judge of the Constitutional Court of Romania.

Last month the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe, said the annulment of election results such as Georgescu’s first-round lead in Romania could only be justified in “exceptional circumstances.”

Georgescu Blames ‘Bolshevik System’

Earlier on Feb. 26, Georgescu took to Facebook to call on his supporters to protest in the capital, Bucharest, on March 1.

“The communist-Bolshevik system continues their hateful abuses! Today, at 6 a.m., they raided dozens of locations again, storming into families’ homes and waking children from their sleep,” Georgescu wrote in his post. “They are trying to fabricate evidence to justify the theft of the elections and to do anything possible to block my new candidacy for the presidency. They have been searching for three months without success.”

On Feb. 22, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest to support Georgescu, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and argued the election was “canceled illegally and unconstitutionally.”

On Feb. 26, Ciolacu wrote on social media platform X, “The judiciary is independent & the law must be applied regardless of persons.”

He later added, “In Romania’s electoral context, judicial authorities have the duty to present to the public extremely solid evidence in the investigation in which, among dozens of people, a potential candidate in the May elections is also involved.”

Georgescu, a former agronomist, has described Ion Antonescu, who allied Romania with Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, leader of the anti-Semitic Iron Guard in the 1940s, as national heroes.

The first round of the presidential election is due to be rerun on May 4, but it is not clear if Georgescu will be allowed to run as a candidate.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes, a runoff will follow on May 18.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.