Romanian far-right opposition seeks to impeach outgoing president

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's three opposition far-right parties started the process to remove outgoing centrist President Klaus Iohannis from office after a cancelled presidential election, but their chances of succeeding were unlikely.

The European Union and NATO state, which borders Ukraine, was plunged into institutional chaos last year after far-right NATO critic Calin Georgescu won the first round of a Nov. 24 presidential election. That prompted accusations of Russian interference - denied by Moscow - and ultimately led to the annulment of the entire ballot.

With the two-round election set to be re-run on May 4 and May 18, Romania's top court said Iohannis, whose second and last term expired on Dec. 21, will stay on until his successor is elected.

But on Thursday, three far-right opposition parties, which control around 35% of parliament seats, filed a request to impeach Iohannis.

The three groupings, whose support has risen following Georgescu's surprise win in the now-voided first round, have backed his unsuccessful attempts to have the annulment overturned.

While impeachment requests can be filed by a third of lawmakers, under Romanian law they need a majority of parliament to vote in favour. The pro-European ruling coalition that emerged after a Dec. 1 parliamentary election has a small majority, but one that is expected to hold.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Rod Nickel)