Romanian far-right presidential candidate to fight ban amid protests

Romanian far-right pro-Russian presidential contender Calin Georgescu will challenge a decision to bar him from taking part in a rerun of the election in May, according to one of his advisers.

Georgescu submitted his presidential bid on Friday after allegations of Russian interference in his favor prompted Romania's Constitutional Court to cancel the original election in December. Moscow denied the allegations of meddling.

On Sunday, Romania's central election authority said it had decided to bar Georgescu's candidacy, saying it was inadmissible after the Constitutional Court's annulment of the December vote.

"A direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide!", Georgescu wrote on X in English. "Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!"

'Traitors'

It was a decision that sparked unrest outside the central election authority in Bucharest with hundreds of Georgescu supporters shouting "Thieves!", "Traitors!" and "Freedom", throwing rocks and trying to force their way through a security cordon.

Police used teargas as protesters tore up stones from the pavement, overturned cars and set trashcans on fire. 

Challenges to decisions by Romania's central election authority must be filed within 24 hours. The Constitutional Court should rule on Georgescu's appeal by Wednesday.

Analysts have said it is unlikely that the top court will allow Georgescu to run again for the presidency in Romania, a member state of the EU and NATO which shares a long border with Ukraine.

The court set a precedent in October when it blocked the candidacy of another far-right candidate, arguing that her anti-European, pro-Russian views made her unfit for office.

If the court upholds the central election authority's decision, the three ultranationalist parties, which hold 35 percent of seats in parliament and which backed Georgescu's previous bid for the presidency, risk having no candidate in the May election.

George Simion, leader of the opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in Romania's parliament, said he would meet with Georgescu on Monday.

Criminal investigation

Asked if he was considering submitting his own candidacy, Simion said: "We wait to see what Mr Georgescu will say. We are not ruling out any options, but we are not speculators."

Georgescu is under criminal investigation on six counts, including membership in a fascist organisation and communicating false information about campaign financing. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Sunday's decision, which tech billionaire and U.S. President Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk called "crazy" on social media platform X, risks deepening a rift between transatlantic allies that has already been shaken by the White House's shift in policy towards Ukraine.

While Musk and Vice President JD Vance have criticized the cancellation of the election, several European diplomats including German, French, Dutch and Spanish ambassadors have expressed support for the independence of Romanian courts.