Romania election: Polls open in tight presidential runoff – DW – 05/18/2025
Skip next section Why was the Romanian election annulled?
05/18/2025
May 18, 2025 Why was the Romanian election annulled?
The previous presidential election, held in November, saw far-right, pro-Russian political outsider Calin Georgescu surprisingly come out on top in the first round.
The vote was later annulled by Romania's constitutional court, which found irregularities in the financing and organization of the leading campaign.
Alleged electoral violations included the activation of thousands of previously inactive social media accounts to spread pro-Georgescu messaging as part of an "aggressive Russian hybrid attack," which Moscow denies.
Romanian public prosecutors in February opened an investigation into Georgescu, who had been banned from standing again in May's rerun.
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