On Friday, Romania’s highest court annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections, ordering a rerun in light of recently declassified security documents that suggested Russian interference aimed at boosting a far-right outsider candidate.
The Constitutional Court made a unanimous decision to invalidate the entire electoral process of the presidential election held late last month, assigning the government the task of scheduling a new election date. The ruling is definitive and carries binding authority, effectively nullifying the runoff vote that was scheduled for Sunday.
The stakes are high for NATO ally Romania as it confronts election manipulation and rising tensions
This extraordinary action by the Constitutional Court comes amid rising concerns in Romania and among NATO and EU allies regarding intelligence reports that attributed the unexpected success of the little-known candidate Călin Georgescu to a Russian operation utilizing social media manipulation, paid influencers, and cyber attacks to sway the election outcome.
The Biden administration, along with U.S. lawmakers, has expressed apprehension about the findings from Romanian intelligence. Georgescu, who reportedly had no campaign expenses, unexpectedly surged to victory in the first round of the presidential vote on November 24.
He was set to compete against the reformist candidate Elena Lasconi from the Save Romania Union Party, who finished in second place. Although Georgescu claims not to support Russia, he has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a patriot and expressed doubts about NATO, labeling Ukraine as an invented state.
As a key NATO ally that shares borders with Ukraine and the Black Sea, Romania plays an important role in supporting Kyiv amid its ongoing defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion, hosting thousands of U.S. troops at a southeastern airbase and planning to expand it into the largest NATO base in Europe.
