the Constitutional Court orders a recount of the votes of the first round of the presidential election

The Romanian Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the votes of the first round of the presidential election, Thursday, November 28, after the surprise qualification on Sunday of Calin Georgescu for the second round, a pro-Russian far-right candidate, and the elimination in the first turn of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The Court is scheduled to meet again on Friday at 1 p.m. (Paris time).

Cristian Terhes, a far-right MEP who came in ninth place in Sunday's vote, accuses one of the parties of having continued to campaign online after the authorized deadline. He believes that this may have favored Elena Lasconi, the centrist mayor of a small town, who came in second place, just ahead of the Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, who found himself excluded from the race even though he was the favorite .

The Constitutional Court also rejected another appeal, received “lately”which denounced the opaque financing of the campaign of Calin Georgescu, who unexpectedly arrived at the head of the first round. This former senior Romanian official, admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and opposed to aid to Ukraine, was able to convince with a campaign on TikTok that went viral, which raised questions from the Romanian authorities.

These results caused a shock wave in the Eastern European country of 19 million inhabitants. Neighboring Ukraine, this member of the European Union and NATO had until now resisted nationalist positions, distancing itself from Hungary or Slovakia. The second round of the presidential election is scheduled for December 8, after the legislative elections on Sunday 1^is.

On Thursday, a meeting of the Romanian Supreme Council of National Defense is to take place to discuss cyber risks linked to the elections, before the legislative elections and the second round of the presidential election.