Călin Georgescu will appeal to the ECHR for the annulment of the Romanian presidential elections

Far-right politician and former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu announced in a message on X that he will appeal the annulment of the Romanian presidential elections to the European Court of Human Rights.

On December 6, 2024, when Romanians abroad had already started voting, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) unanimously annulled the entire presidential election process, citing declassified reports alleging Russian involvement in cyber activities aimed at undermining the integrity of the electoral process.

The presidential election process began with the first round on November 24, which ended with the surprise victory of the ultra-nationalist and EU-skeptic independent candidate, Călin Georgescu and the reformist leader of the USSR, Elena Lasconi, in second place. Now, the process will restart from scratch, supposedly at the end of March.

“If Romanian justice has not brought justice and honor to the Romanian people, then perhaps the international justice system, starting with the ECHR, will do so for the good of all. Justice exists so that people no longer have to take justice by their own hand, as long as their fundamental constitutional rights are protected!” Georgescu wrote in X.

The far-right politician, known for his defense against the EU and the aid that Romania has given to Ukraine after the Russian invasion, denounced the alleged corruption of Romanian politicians and judges. “Romanian justice, deeply possessed by the politics of evil, has condemned the people to accept corruption and injustice as a reality of life. “We will no longer accept this, ever again!” Georgescu also wrote.

People who believe their rights have been violated can file complaints with the European Court of Human Rights after exhausting domestic remedies in their home country. Călin Georgescu’s critics claim, however, that his appeal has no legal basis. “The right to free elections, as stipulated in Protocol No. 1 of the ECHR Convention, applies exclusively to legislative elections. The jurisprudence of the ECtHR has explicitly established that the exercise of this right in presidential elections is only considered if the head of state has legislative initiative or broad legislative powers. This is not the case of the Romanian president, who cannot initiate laws and whose veto power is limited to the first version of a law,” former Romanian MEP Cristian Preda said in a Facebook post.

After the presidential election was annulled, Romanian prosecutors began investigating some of Georgescu’s financial backers. The politician had officially declared that he did not spend money on the presidential campaign, although he benefited from a complex promotion plan on the Chinese social platform TikTok.

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(Photo source: Octav Ganea | Inquam Photos)