Romanian government survives no-confidence vote

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's pro-European coalition government survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Friday, avoiding further political turbulence in the NATO and European Union member state which will rerun a presidential election this year.

Tensions have run high in Romania since the election was annulled in December following allegations that Russian interference had propelled far-right NATO critic Calin Georgescu into pole position in the first round.

Analysts had said the three hard-right parties that filed the no-confidence motion - which accused the two-month-old coalition government led by Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of corruption and of losing credibility - had done so to boost their profile before the rerun.

The three parties won around 35% of seats in a parliamentary election on December 1 last year, capitalising on voters' anger with a centrist establishment facing accusations of corruption.

The no-confidence motion was supported by 144 lawmakers, short of the 233 votes needed to pass.

"You are not interested in the problems Romanians are confronting every day," Ciolacu told opposition lawmakers before the vote. "You infect society day by day with the virus of lies and hatred."

"The political chaos you want to bring in Romania will be automatically followed by economic chaos. The euro will reach the sky. All construction sites will be closed. People will live in poverty unable to pay their bills."

Opposition lawmakers shouted "thieves" during his speech.

"You are the ugly face of the system which mocked this country for 35 years," George Simion, the leader of hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians, told Ciolacu.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had launched a criminal investigation against Georgescu over accusations including promoting antisemitism. Georgescu has said he will run again.

Members of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration have criticised Romania for annulling the election.

Georgescu, who has praised Romania's 1930s fascist leaders and expressed admiration for both the U.S. and Russian presidents, remains voters' top choice for the presidency, according to opinion polls.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw and Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Editing by Timothy Heritage)