Defeated
Romanian ultranationalist ‘will ask court to annul election’
George
Simion claims presidential election rerun was subject to foreign interference,
like last year’s annulled ballot
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
Tue 20 May
2025 19.30 BST
The defeated
ultranationalist candidate in Romania’s presidential election rerun has said he
will ask the country’s top court to annul the vote on the same grounds –
foreign interference – that led to the original ballot being cancelled last
year.
George
Simion, who was defeated in Sunday’s runoff by the liberal mayor of Bucharest,
Nicuşor Dan, said on Tuesday he would ask the constitutional court to void the
ballot “for the same reasons they annulled the elections” last year.
The
election, which Dan won by a margin of 53.6% to 46.4%, was the second time the
vote had been held. The first, last November, was cancelled by the court after
the first round amid allegations of campaign financing violations and a
“massive” Russian interference campaign.
The winner
of the annulled vote, far-right firebrand Călin Georgescu, was barred from
standing again and is under formal investigation on counts including
misreporting campaign spending, illegal use of digital technology and promoting
fascist groups. He denies any wrongdoing.
“Just as
Călin Georgescu was removed and the elections were annulled, we will challenge
the election of Nicușor Dan for exactly the same reasons,” Simion, an
EU-critical, Trump-admiring former soccer ultra, said in a statement to local
media.
“Why?
Because there was vote buying,” said Simion, who formally conceded to Dan on
Sunday night after first claiming to have won. “Because dead people voted on 18
May, and no calculation in the world can show us over 11.5 million Romanians
voted.”
Simion has
repeatedly alleged electoral fraud without providing evidence. His belated
decision to contest the election’s outcome, while unlikely to succeed, will
prolong the political uncertainty in Romania, which is under a caretaker
government.
The
ultranationalist, whose supporters carried out a parallel count at some polling
stations, said votes were “correctly counted” but “international observers” had
seen “foreign interference” and “social media and algorithms have been
manipulated”.
He claimed
there was “irrefutable evidence” of meddling by France, Moldova and others in
“an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives and
impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian
people”.
Simion
referenced a suggestion by the founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel
Durov, that Paris had asked it to “silence conservative voices” in Romania.
France has “categorically rejected” what it called “completely unfounded
allegations”.
Russian-born
Durov, who also has French nationality, is being investigated by France in
connection with alleged criminal activity on the app, including child abuse
images and drug trafficking. Telegram has said it abides by EU law and denies
the platform facilitates illegal activities.
The
far-right candidate said he had congratulated Dan on election night because “I
love Romania, the Romanian people, and I never want to see bloodshed.” The
count may have been correct, he said, “but before and during it, there was
manipulation”.
He
acknowledged there was “little chance that my request to the court will pass”,
but said he was “appealing to all Romanians of good faith to … demand the
cancellation of this masquerade”. He would provide those who wished with a
template, he said.
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