He Romania’s Constitutional Court has validated this Monday the surprising results of the first round in the presidential elections, allowing the celebration of a dramatic second round Next Sunday I could give a turnaround to the country’s pro-Western orientation and erode its support for Ukraine. The decision eliminates uncertainty that loomed over the Balkan nation since the court ordered a recount of the votes a few days ago. The victory of the far-right and pro-Kremlin candidate Calin Georgescu raised suspicions of foreign interference in the process.
“The judges unanimously decided to confirm and validate the result of the first presidential round on November 24, and to hold the second round on December 8,” its president reported. Marian Enache. The ultra-pro-Russian candidate focused his campaign on TikTok, where his videos were viewed hundreds of millions of times in one organized strategy which included ‘influencers’ who replicated their messages, according to an analysis by the Expert Forum think tank. Georgescu assured that he did not spend “not a penny” (Romanian local currency) in the electoral campaign, for which the Permanent Electoral Authority asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the candidate given the suspicions raised by his failure to reveal neither expenses nor contributions.
Georgescu will face the centrist Elena Lasconi, who supports integration into the EU and NATO. The polls, for the moment, favor the Eurosceptic candidate, with around a 57% of respondents.
Last Sunday, Romanians went to the polls to decide the composition of Parliament. The Social Democrats won with nearly 23% of the votesfollowed by the extreme right, whose three formations monopolized a third of the votes, less than the pro-EU and NATO parties. These results allowed many pro-Europeans, both inside and outside Romania, to breathe a sigh of relief that some analysts still consider premature. “All those who celebrate that democracy has been saved in Romania are doing so prematurely,” political analyst Cristian Pervulescu told Reuters. “If the president belongs to the extreme right, it will be very complicated for pro-Europeans organize and resist in Parliament in 2025,” he continued. In Romania, it is the head of state who entrusts a certain politician with forming the Government.
Grand European coalition
Lasconi has issued a call to form a great coalition in favor of Europe. However, the social democratic prime minister Marcel ciolacuwhich was left out of the presidential second round, has not yet given its support to any candidate. “Romanians must decide for themselves,” he declared. “The Social Democratic Party must be a bridge between EU-funded development and membership of the union and NATO, and the part of Romanians who believe in christian values and in the national identity“, he declared, after confirming “a gap” in the society of the Balkan country.
