Romanian court cancels presidential election in unprecedented political earthquake

The Romanian presidential run-off between far-right candidate Calin Georgescu and centrist pro-EU Elena Lasconi is now off, after the Constitutional Court (CCR) cancelled the results of the first round of votes and announced entirely new elections will be held instead.

This dramatic and unprecedented decision comes just as the voting has begun in the diaspora.

"The electoral process for the election of the president of Romania will be resumed in its entirety, with the government required to set a new date for the election of the president of Romania as well as a new calendar program for carrying out the necessary actions," the court said in a statement on Friday.

The court said the decision to annul the first round was due to procedural issues and the declassification of the secret reports by the Romanian intelligence services showing Russian involvement in influencing voters through an anti-Western propaganda campaign supporting Georgescu.

The intelligence reports showed several illegal processes in Georgescu’s campaign financing. 

The court previously assessed a request to annul the election's result after Georgescu stunned the political establishment to come first place but decided to press ahead.

Friday's decision leaves the country in an unparalleled political situation with unforeseen consequences. According to initial scenarios, the new election might take place in spring 2025 if the decision on the new vote also means restarting the entire process, including collecting signatures for each candidate from scratch.

The centre-left Social Democratic party's candidate in the first round and Prime Minister-incumbent Marcel Ciolacu hailed the Bucharest court's decision as the right thing to do.

"The CCR's decision to cancel