Calin Georgescu (pictured), an independent presidential candidate in Romania, called the Constitutional Court’s decision to cancel the first round of voting a “coup d’état.” A runoff was scheduled for Sunday, December 8, between Georgescu, who came first in the first round with 22.95% of the vote, and pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi, who managed to get 19.18% of voters’ preferences in the first round of voting.

The sensational decision of Romania’s Constitutional Court to annul the results of the first round of the presidential election has radically changed the political scenarios in this southeastern European country, which is now plunged into an unprecedented political crisis.

Georgescu, less known to the public before the November 24 election, was promoted in an allegedly unusual way through social channels, especially in short videos published on the platform TikTok. The number of views of Georgescu’s video has caused alarm among Romania’s security authorities, who have launched an investigation into the candidate’s campaigning methods.

The cancelation of the first round of the presidential election came after the declassification of confidential security documents concerning alleged foreign interference – we read Russia’s name between the lines, as always – in the election campaign run in TikTok by Georgescu, the surprise winner of the election in the first round.

According to the latest opinion polls, in the second round of the presidential election, independent and pro-Russian candidate Georgescu could get 57.8% of the votes in favor, while 42.2% of Romanian voters would vote for Lasconi.

“The Romanian state has taken democracy and trampled on it. The decision of the Constitutional Court represents more than a legal contradiction. Officially it is a coup d’état,” Georgescu told reporters.

Critical of the European Union and NATO, the 62-year-old former top Romanian official confirmed to the media that he favors a full block of military aid to Ukraine. At the same time, while in the past Georgescu has expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, lately he has avoided taking a clear position, limiting himself to statements that he is “for Romania.”

“On this day, the Romanian state trampled on democracy. The court’s decision is practically an official coup d’état. Together with the people, we did what we said we would do: we wrote history. It is time to show that we are a courageous people. Democracy is under threat. We see party leaders fearing that the dossier will become public. On this day, the corrupt system made a pact with the devil,” Georgescu emphasized, promising to “appeal the Constitutional Court’s decision” to annul the results of the November 24 presidential election, which showed him as the winner.

“Obviously we’re going to go to Superior Court, that’s clear. Actions are already underway. We know the Court’s position, if 9 people decide for 19 million, it’s already clear. None of that matters anymore. The decision was made that everything was fine, and then two days before the second round, the decision was made to cancel. The Romanian people are sovereign and will remain sovereign, no matter how much they want to stop me. They can’t stop me, and they can’t stop the Romanian people. We made history, they can’t erase history. The whole world is watching Romania after this barbaric decision,” Georgescu said as Romanian authorities launched a frontal attack on the independent candidate.

On Saturday morning (December 7), searches were launched “in connection with crimes related to voter corruption, money laundering, and computer fraud.” This was announced by the Romanian Prosecutor General’s Office, according to which the searches are taking place in six homes in the Romanian capital Bucharest and in Ilfov county at some people suspected of having ties to Georgescu and accused of “propagating fascist ideas and inciting hatred on social media.”

George Simion, leader of the main right-wing AUR party, condemned the decision, “which nullifies the will of the Romanian people,” but urged his supporters to calm down and “not take to the streets” because “the system must fall democratically.”

The reaction of the Italian Lombard League party was immediate and harsh: “The League is following with great respect and deep concern what is happening in Romania: canceling a democratic vote because the result is not to the liking of Brussels, the politically correct, and some influential people like Soros is a worrying and very dangerous precedent,” the party from Italy’s ruling coalition said in a statement.