BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanian prosecutors summoned the frontrunner in last year’s cancelled presidential election, far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, for questioning on Wednesday as part of their wider investigation into the vote, judicial sources said.
The presidential ballot was voided in December on account of suspected Russian interference in favour of Georgescu, a strong critic of NATO and Western support for Ukraine. Moscow denied the accusations of meddling in the vote.
Prosecutors launched a criminal investigation following the cancellation amid accusations of wrongdoing ranging from campaign funding fraud and promoting anti-Semitism and hate speech to acts against the constitutional order.
Georgescu is not currently considered a suspect.
Prosecutors also said on Wednesday they had raided 47 addresses of people and associations connected to Georgescu. Earlier this month they raided the home of his campaign manager.
Georgescu accused authorities of behaviour reminiscent of Romania’s communist past.
“The communist Bolshevik system is continuing its heinous abuse,” Georgescu said on his Facebook account on Wednesday.
“They are looking to invent evidence to justify stealing the election and to do anything in their efforts to block a new candidacy from me.”
His communications team said in a post on social media that authorities had hauled Georgescu in for questioning on the day he had intended to submit his candidacy for a rerun of the presidential election set for May.
“Where is democracy now, where are the partners who should defend democracy?” the post read.
Georgescu, who has praised Romania’s 1930s fascist leaders and expressed admiration for both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, remains voters’ top choice in opinion polls ahead of the May rerun, although it remains unclear whether he will be allowed to run.
Members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have sharply criticised Romania for annulling its election. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the cancellation meant Romania does not share American values, while billionaire Elon Musk labelled the chief judge of the top court that annulled the vote a “tyrant”.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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