The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday dismissed a petition from Romanian anti-globalist presidential candidate Călin Georgescu to reinstate the annulled results of the country’s first-round election.
Last November, Georgescu, a relatively unknown ultranationalist candidate, shocked the nation by winning the first round of Romania’s presidential election. However, before the second-round runoff could take place, the Constitutional Court annulled the results, citing irregularities. According to declassified Romanian intelligence, Georgescu had benefitted from a social media booster campaign on platforms like TikTok.
Hoping to reverse the decision, Georgescu appealed to the ECHR, requesting that the first-round results be restored as an interim measure. However, the Strasbourg-based court rejected his petition, stating it fell “outside the scope of application of Rule 39,” which governs the court’s authority to issue urgent orders. The court chose not to weigh in on the substance of his claims.
This wasn’t Georgescu’s only legal defeat. Earlier this month, a Romanian appeals court also ruled against his efforts to challenge the annulment.
The decision to void the election has sparked widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, even from Georgescu’s ideological opponents. Elena Lasconi, his reformist rival in the canceled runoff, criticized the state’s actions, saying Romania’s democracy was being “trampled.”
The country will now hold a new election on May 4, with a runoff scheduled for May 18. Georgescu has announced he will run again and currently leads in the polls. However, his surprise victory in the annulled first round has raised questions about the reliability of such surveys.
