Romania: Georgescu supporters turn violent over election ban – DW – 03/10/2025
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Calin Georgescu had been leading in opinion polls with around 40% of the vote. He is expected to appeal the decision to exclude him from the election.

Summary

Romania’s electoral commission barred far-right candidate Calin Georgescu from the presidential election without explanation.

Georgescu, who led polls with 40%, called the move “a direct blow to democracy” and plans to appeal. His supporters protested in Bucharest.

The constitutional court annulled his prior election win over alleged Russian interference, which he denies. He faces legal issues, including accusations of financing violations and extremist ties.

A vocal Trump supporter, Georgescu received backing from Trump officials, including Elon Musk and JD Vance, who condemned Romania’s actions.

  • SinningStromgald@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    28 days ago

    A vocal Trump supporter, Georgescu received backing from Trump officials, including Elon Musk and JD Vance,

    Romania, good job.

  • absquatulate@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    27 days ago

    I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, this pretty much confirms that the leading parties have been colluding to manipulate elections. The ideal situation would have been him getting his ass whoopped by being voted out. On the other, there was a non-zero chance that he might actually have won.

    Either way, the shitshow is not even close to being over. These parties make up 32% of our current parliament, and they’re likely to grow after this stunt, so we’ll have to deal with this crap again during the next election cycle, or sooner.

    • tudor@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      26 days ago

      Great example of the paradox of tolerance.

      It’s good that Romania is defending its democracy - Georgescu is a fraud as much as he is a clown, clearly unfit for office as he will not uphold the rule of law and will abuse his power.

      With that said, where do you draw the line when barring people from running? Some will see this as an attack of democracy itself, in which anyone is allowed to run for office and is elected by the people. Blocking adversaries from running isn’t exactly the definition of democracy.

      Unless the secret service declassifies its evidence that Georgescu is in any way affiliated or promoted by Russia, I see this going downward, with him and his ideology getting even more supporters due to this paradox of tolerance.

  • gon [he]@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Well, on one hand, I like the far-right getting some institutional push-back. On the other hand, I’m a little concerned with both the state of democracy — that such a candidate could get so many votes — and the disregard for the people’s vote — while there may have been significant Russian interference, to what extent should the courts intervene with what seems to be a genuinely popular candidate?

    • Barbarian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      28 days ago

      There is strong legal backing to this. Romania bars anyone with ties to or rhetoric similar to the Iron Guard (Romanian fascists) from running. Georgescu has strong ties to them, and he’s not even the only politician barred from running due to this for this election (Sosoaca).