The Romanian presidential election, which is being held without the participation of Călin Georgescu, is “illegitimate,” the Kremlin said on Tuesday, two days after Bucharest banned the runner-up from a repeat of the presidential election in May.
“This is a violation of all democratic norms in the center of Europe,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s press secretary, at a press conference on Tuesday, according to Politico, as cited by Mandiner.
“Any election held without him will be illegitimate,” he added. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference on Wednesday: “The will of the Romanian people has been suppressed. If a candidate who enjoys the support of a significant part of the electorate is artificially excluded, it means undermining the democratic process. Therefore, we cannot consider these elections legitimate.” Peskov did not elaborate on what steps Russia planned to take in the matter.
The spokesman further denied that Russia had anything to do with Georgescu, calling the allegations “complete nonsense.”
Georgescu’s foes have branded him pro-Russian and extremist, but much of the right across Europe has decried the banning, warning it was an anti-democratic and authoritarian move that could prove the first step towards destroying democracy across Europe. Notably, many of these figures making such warnings are vehemently opposed to Russia, such as Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Within Romania, figures such as MEP Claudiu Târziu, who belongs to the rival AUR party which eventually backed Georgescu, slammed the EU’s response to the anti-democratic acts taking place in Romania.
🇷🇴‼️ "Democracy in Romania is in grave danger and the European Commission has no reaction whatsoever!" @Claudiu_Tarziu tells MEPs in Strasbourg.
This was the only comment on the attempt to cancel free elections in a member state during yesterday's EP plenary. pic.twitter.com/BpRGO8R6gK
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 11, 2025Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu called Moscow’s statement “unacceptable interference” and stressed that Romania has a sovereign right to regulate its own electoral processes. “We will not accept lessons in democracy from those who do not respect it themselves,” he added.
The Constitutional Court made the final decision on Tuesday afternoon after a two-hour deliberation. It said the decision was unanimous. The Central Electoral Bureau had previously rejected Georgescu’s candidacy for a repeat of the May presidential election. Georgescu won the first round of last year’s presidential election, but it was annulled on the grounds of foreign influence. On Sunday, the electoral bureau ruled that Georgescu’s nomination “did not meet the conditions of legality” because it “violated the obligation to protect democracy.”
