Romanian prosecutors will prosecute former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu for an attempt to disrupt national security after the presidential elections were deleted last year. In November, the ultra -nationalist Georgescu won the first round of the elections, but that result was declared invalid for possible Russian influence.
A few days thereafter, the Romanian police arrested a group of twenty men, who were on their way to the capital Bucharest with an arsenal of weapons to violently disturb demonstrations against Georgescu. Between pistols, knives, machetes and cash in five currencies, a list of politicians and journalists, targets of an ‘intimidation operation’ were also found in the cars. Among the arrested people was Horatiu Potra, former leader of a mercenary group in Africa.
The Romanian Public Prosecution Service now says it has evidence that Georgescu prepared this violent conspiracy together with Potra. Georgescu denies this, Potra says he never had contact with the politician. It is not yet clear when the lawsuit against Georgescu will take place, a judge must now first decide whether there will be a trial.
Russian interference
Georgescu is also being prosecuted for election fraud. In November 2024, the extreme right-wing, pro-Russian, anti-European politician won 23 percent of the votes during the first round of the presidential elections, thanks to a coordinated campaign with paid influencers on TIKTOK.
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Despite a ban on political advertisements on the popular app, the videos reached many viewers. Romanian security services suspected Russian interference, that was the reason for the Constitutional Court to declare the first round invalid and to have it done again.
Last March, two months before the new elections, the Romanian electoral council decided to fully exclude Georgescu from the elections. This led to a lot of criticism in Romania, among his supporters and established Romanian politicians. The American Vice President JD Vance called the decision as an example of undemocratic actions of Europe, tech billionaire Elon Musk also expressed the statements of support for Georgescu several times.