Pro-Russia Romanian presidential candidate questioned by prosecutors, his team says
By Christian Edwards, CNN
(CNN) — Calin Georgescu, a far-right presidential candidate in Romania, has been taken in for questioning by police as part of an investigation into his campaign, which last year prompted the country’s constitutional court to cancel an election.
Georgescu was pulled over for questioning by police on Wednesday as he was about to file his new candidacy for the new presidential election, set for May, his communications team announced.
“Where is democracy, where are the partners who must defend democracy?” his team asked in a post on Facebook, in an apparent appeal to Trump administration officials who have recently voiced support for Georgescu.
Georgescu, a former soil scientist who was virtually unknown before last year’s presidential election, unexpectedly won the first round of the vote in Romania, a NATO member that shares a border with Ukraine.
During his TikTok-fueled campaign, Georgescu was critical of NATO, skeptical about Western support for Ukraine and warm towards Vladimir Putin, calling the Russian president a “patriot.”
Before the second-round vote, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election, saying its decision was motivated by fears of foreign interference.
Declassified intelligence documents from Romania’s top security council revealed evidence of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks” and suggested the wave of TikTok videos supporting Georgescu “could have been coordinated by a state actor.”
This story has been updated.
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