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Chaos on the Romanian political scene after Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) took an unprecedented decision and annulled the presidential elections, a final and binding decision that cannot be challenged. The CCR decision, taken unanimously by the 9 judges, is based on the content of the documents declassified during the meeting of the Superior Council for National Defense (CSAT), which showed that the electoral process for the election of the President of Romania was flawed throughout its entire duration and at all stages by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation that distorted the free and fair nature of the vote cast by citizens and the equality of opportunity for the electoral contestants. These irregularities and breaches of electoral legislation found by the CCR affected the transparent and fair nature of the electoral campaign and disregarded the legal regulations on its financing.
It should be noted that the CCR’s decision to cancel the elections was taken while the voting for the second round, in which the independent candidate Călin Georgescu (labeled as far-right) and the candidate Elena Lasconi (declared as pro-European) were facing each other, was underway in the diaspora. The Central Electoral Bureau took the decision to suspend voting three hours after the announcement of the CCR decision and after more than 53,000 eligible citizens had already expressed their electoral choice.
The electoral process is to be restarted from scratch next year at the earliest, most likely in March. No one can predict exactly when the election timetable will be or when Romania will have a new president because the first step to be taken is to form a new government that will decide on the next elections. Thus, the most optimistic scenario would be that after the validation of the mandates of the new parliamentarians elected on the 28th of November, the new government will be formed and on the 8th of January, through a government ordinance, it will set the calendar for the next elections, which could take place (75 days after the government decision is published), the first round on the 30th of March and the second round on the 13th of April. Until the new President Klaus Iohannis is sworn in, he will remain in office according to the same decision of the CCR.
At European level, there have only been two cases of annulment and re-run elections in the last 20 years, one of them in an EU Member State. The first case of annulment of elections was in 2004 in Ukraine when, in the second round, the opposition challenged Viktor Yanukovych’s victory. This led to a series of protests organized by Yushchenko’s supporters, known as the Orange Revolution. Following international pressure and street protests, the result was annulled and the vote was re-run in December 2004, when the same Viktor Yushchenko won. At EU level, the only country to annul the elections was Austria in 2016. On charges of rigging or mishandling postal votes, Austria’s Constitutional Court ordered the annulment of the result in which Alexander Van der Bellenil defeated far-right candidate Norbert Hofert. When the second round of elections was repeated in December 2016, Van der Bellen won again.
European leaders send messages of support for Romania after CCR decision
Now what is happening on the Romanian political scene is giving European political leaders and their strategic partner across the Atlantic, the USA, a lot of headaches. Among the first reactions was that of the US State Department, which on Friday issued a message of support for Romania. Just three days before, the US had expressed its concern after the declassification of the CSAT report.
Also facing political problems at home, Emmanuel Macron expressed his support for the pro-European candidate in Romania’s presidential final. Before the CCR decision was announced, the French president made a point of mentioning in a video appeal that the result is important not only for Romania but for Europe as a whole. The first EU reaction to the CCR decision to annul the presidential election came from France. The French Embassy in Bucharest has expressed concern about Russian interference in the electoral process. The embassy also called for increased transparency of the TikTok platform in order to prevent systemic risks to the electoral process in Romania and all EU Member States.
“France is closely following the electoral process in Romania, an important strategic partner within the EU and NATO, and a friendly nation. In this context, we express our deep concern following the publication by the Presidential Administration of declassified documents showing Russian interference, notably through the TikTok network, aimed at altering the integrity of the ongoing electoral process. France welcomes the measures announced by the European Commission in the framework of the Digital Services Regulation. France calls for the mobilization of all necessary tools to strengthen the transparency of the TikTok platform and to prevent systemic risks to the electoral process both in Romania and in all EU Member States,” reads the embassy’s message published on X.
What did the two candidates affected by the decision to cancel the elections say?
Călin Georgescu blamed the Romanian state institutions, saying that democracy has been trampled underfoot and that the CCR decision could amount to a coup d’état. On the other side, Elena Lasconi, (35% in the polls), said that the CCR decision is illegal, immoral and crushes the very essence of democracy: the vote!
“The decision handed down by the Constitutional Court today transcends mere legal debate. It effectively represents an institutionalized coup d’état. The rule of law has been placed in a state of artificial suspension, and a justice system subservient to political directives has been stripped of its true purpose—it no longer serves justice but operates on command. In such conditions, justice ceases to exist; what remains is a façade that undermines democratic principles. Democracy, however, is not something that can be compromised or negotiated.”, said Călin Georgescu.
Accusations of money laundering, and voter corruption
Prosecutors from the General Prosecutor’s Office and police officers – the Economic Crime Investigation Directorate and the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime – raided several suspects on Saturday morning, December 7. The prosecutors are investigating the alleged crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery and the crime under Article 5 of GEO 31/2002 on the prohibition of organizations and symbols of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature.
“Following the analysis of the information resulting from the (declassified) documents that were presented at the CSAT meeting from the 28th of November 2024 on the conduct of the electoral process for the office of President of Romania, DIICOT prosecutors have been notified on the commission of the crimes of illegal operations with computer devices or software, attempted crime of disruption of the functioning of information systems and attempted crime of illegal access to a computer system. Investigations are being conducted in rem, and this stage of the criminal proceedings does not mean the formulation of charges against one or more persons, but establishes the procedural framework necessary to gather evidence for the correct and complete establishment of the facts, which will allow the adoption of a legal and well-founded solution in the case”, DIICOT said.
A major financier of Călin Georgescu’s campaign is targeted by the prosecutors’ investigation.
“The raids are aimed at the possible involvement of an individual in the illegal financing of the electoral campaign of a candidate for the Romanian presidency, through the use of sums of money that there are indications that they may have been derived from the commission of crimes, which were subsequently introduced into a money laundering process,” say prosecutors.
In the dialog with the Romanian authorities, TikTok representatives confirmed the identity of the user with the name “bogpr”. This user, identified by the authorities as having been in charge of financing Călin Georgescu’s campaign on the aforementioned social network, made donations on TikTok of more than one million euro. In this regard, TikTok representatives noted that the user, “bogpr”, made payments amounting to $381,000 between the 24th of October and the 24th of November 2024, to users of TikTok accounts involved in the promotion of Călin Georgescu, including after the end of the electoral campaign.
The results of the prosecutors’ investigation must necessarily be finalized with arrests and convictions because otherwise conspiracy theories will be fueled that will lead Romania on a road of no return. Let us not forget that Romania is currently on the brink of the abyss with a deficit of 8.6% of GDP, a debt of 50% of GDP and historic borrowing at high interest rates. The growth rate of Romania’s external debt is among the highest in the European Union. If the current political crisis will fuel a future economic crisis, Romania risks to come close to bankruptcy, let’s not forget the case of Greece (the first and only EU country to default).