Romania’s top court scraps presidential election

BUCHAREST: Romania´s constitutional court announced on Friday that it had annulled the presidential election following allegations of Russian interference, effectively cancelling the second-round run-off that had been due to take place this weekend.

Romanian authorities had cried foul after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round of presidential elections on November 24, a surprise result in the EU and Nato member bordering Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the presidency declassified documents detailing a slew of allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including “massive” social media promotion and cyber-attacks. The court said it had decided “to annul the entire electoral process for the election of the President of Romania... to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process”.

It said the decision had been unanimous without giving further details.

“The government will set a new date for the election of the president of Romania,” it added.

Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, had been due to face centrist mayor Elena Lasconi in Sunday´s runoff. Fears had been rife that if Georgescu won, the country would join the EU´s far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Russia.