Thousands of people protest outside Romania’s supreme court over the annulled presidential election By Reuters

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Thousands of Romanians rallied outside the country’s top court on Friday to protest against the annulment of December’s presidential election in which a little-known Russian candidate won the first round. .

Although small, protests have continued since December 6, when the Constitutional Court annulled the election two days before the second round. Its move came after government documents showed former leader Calin Georgescu benefited from a biased social media campaign that may have been orchestrated by Russia.

Moscow refused to interfere in the Romanian elections.

The decision to cancel the presidential election undermined public trust in government institutions, fueled elections angered by major party political conflicts and allegations of fraud and strengthened hard-line and unpopular parties, which are now in power a third of the parliamentary seats.

Georgescu’s lawyer filed a request on Friday for the Constitutional Court to return the election results. Georgescu, who was not present, urged his supporters to participate.

Around 4,000 supporters gathered outside the court with a mock coffin emblazoned with the word “Democracy”.

They waved national flags, carried Christian icons and Georgescu icons, and chanted “We want to vote” and “Bring back the second round”.

Romania’s ruling party agreed this week to hold two presidential elections on May 4 and May 18, nearly six months after the annulled election.

Incumbent President Klaus Iohannis, whose term ended on December 21, will remain head of state until his successor is elected.

It remains unclear whether Georgescu, who criticizes NATO and opposes Romania’s support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, will be allowed to run for president again.

Romania has the longest land border with Ukraine than any other European Union and NATO member state. It helped export millions of tons of Ukrainian grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta, trained Ukrainian pilots and provided a Patriot air defense battery to Kyiv.