Romanian election gets canceled just days before final round
Romaniaʼs constitutional court stopped presidential election process two days before final voting round. Decision comes after evidence of social-media manipulation and cyber-attacks linked to Russian influence
Romanias highest court made an un-expected move on Dec 6th cancelling the on-going presidential election process which leaves the country in a state of un-certainty (with second round voting already started in foreign polling stations)
The courtʼs decision comes after Calin Georgescu – a pro-russian candidate got a shocking first-place finish in round one on Nov 24th; he was set to face pro-EU centrist Elena Lasconi this weekend. The surprise result raised eye-brows as Georgescuʼs pre-election ratings were in single digits
The countryʼs security council un-covered documents showing wide-spread hybrid attacks during election time:
- Over 85000 cyber-attacks targeting voting systems
- Co-ordinated TikTok promotion campaigns
- Election website access data appearing on russian crime platforms
Elena Lasconi called the courts move “illegal and crushes democracy itself“ while hard-right Alliance leader George Simion sees it as a coup dʼétat. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu however thinks its the right choice – this shows deep political divide in the EU and NATO member state
Anti-crime prosecutors started looking into Georgescuʼs campaign which declared zero spending despite massive social-media presence. The situation creates more questions than answers as current president Klaus Iohannis term ends Dec 21st – nobody knows whoʼll lead the country after that
The bond market showed positive reaction to this news with Romaniaʼs dollar-denominated bonds reaching their best levels since mid-november
