Romanian election mired in uncertainty after far-right Georgescu banned

By Luiza Ilie

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian far-right politician Calin Georgescu on Tuesday stopped short of endorsing any other potential candidate after being definitively barred from standing in May's presidential election rerun, adding to uncertainty over who would replace him.

Whether another far right candidate succeeds in swaying Georgescu's voters will determine whether another central European country swings closer to Moscow beside Hungary and Slovakia in the election scheduled on May 4 and May 18.

The 62-year-old pro-Russian contender ran as an independent in last year's presidential election which was annulled in December by the country's top court due to undeclared funding and suspicion of Russian meddling in his favour, denied by Moscow and Georgescu.

"Today, the masters have decided: no equality, no freedom, no fraternity for Romanians," Georgescu wrote on social media platform x in English and French.

"Long live France and Brussels, long live their colony named Romania. While America is becoming great again, Europe and Romania have become petty, corrupt, and under dictatorship."

In a separate message on Facebook addressing his supporters he struck a conciliatory tone and urged them to follow their conscience when supporting another candidate, while not immediately endorsing anyone.

DISPUTE

Romania, a NATO and EU member, has found itself at the centre of a dispute between Europe and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over the nature of democracy due to the election. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Romania's annulment of the vote meant it did not share American values.

Georgescu submitted his candidacy on Friday but the central election authority rejected it two days later, prompting a small but violent clash between his supporters and police.

The top court's decision to reject Georgescu's appeal is final and cannot be challenged. It was unanimous, the court said. Several hundred protesters gathered outside the top court to support Georgescu, shouting "Thieves" and "Freedom."

"What a disgrace!", George Simion, leader of the opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) wrote on X. "Once again, the Constitutional Court is mocking the Romanian people, is attacking our democracy and our essential rights and freedoms."

The ultranationalist parties which backed Georgescu saw a surge in support in parliamentary elections and won 35% of seats, forming a powerful opposition to the pro-NATO European government.

However, they have no clear alternative to Georgescu and political analysts said they had backed his candidacy even though they knew it would be refused in order to stoke unrest and paint last year's ballot cancellation as a coup by mainstream parties beholden to foreign interests.

"It was almost a certainty that Georgescu's candidacy will be rejected," said Cristian Pirvulescu, a political scientist. "The far right parties were aware and they bid on increasing negative emotion."

The parties have said they are backing him to protect democracy after Georgescu won the most votes in the initial first round ballot.

'BEAUTY CONTEST'

The deadline to submit presidential bids ahead of the May election is March 15, giving the hard-right opposition parties, including the AUR and the Young People Party (POT) little time to put forward a viable replacement.

"There is a beauty contest in the ultranationalist camp right now," said political commentator Radu Magdin.

"They need a name and once that is announced a candidacy can be submitted before the deadline even if it is tight."

Simion, who ranked fourth in the first round of the voided presidential election, is a likely replacement. On Monday he said all options were on the table and that Georgescu would decide on future steps.

Prosecutors said they opened a criminal investigation against Simion for inciting violence after Georgescu was barred.

Even with Georgescu out of the running, voters were expected to lean towards anti-establishment parties.

"I am disappointed, we are overwhelmed," said Ionel Gherghina, 54. "I still believe our president Calin will come up with a solution favourable for us, we hope he will not give up."

Gabriel Teodorescu, a 76-year-old pensioner, took a different view, saying people wanted change, but "not through chaos and without putting anything in place."

"Russians are behind these (ultranationalist) movements which want to distance us from the EU and NATO," he added.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie, additional reporting by Janis Laizans, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Alan Charlish; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Nick Zieminski)