In his appeal to the court, Georgescu — whose original candidacy was allegedly boosted by a Russia-backed TikTok influence operation — insisted that his expulsion from the election do-over could permanently suppress his constitutional right to stand for election.

The Romanian constitutional court on Tuesday upheld a ban preventing the far-right candidate Călin Georgescu from participating in the country’s presidential election. The ruling, which is final, backed a decision by Romania’s electoral authority on Sunday to throw out Georgescu’s bid to run in May’s vote after he allegedly breached election rules.

It’s a close question, given the role of Russia and the tender age of the country’s democracy.

The country’s Central Electoral Bureau rejected his candidacy Sunday, saying Georgescu had violated Romania’s election rules while coming out of nowhere to win the first round of the presidential vote last November, partly on the back of a wildly successful TikTok campaign.

Far-right Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu has lodged an appeal at the constitutional court after his bid for a May rerun was thrown out on the grounds that he was in breach of democratic rules.

Far-right populist Călin Georgescu cannot run in Romania's May presidential elections after the Constitutional Court (CCR) rejected on Tuesday, March 11, all challenges against the Central Electoral Bureau's (BEC) decision to invalidate his candidacy.

Romanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has lost his appeal against a ruling barring him from participating in the country’s presidential election in May. The Constitutional Court issued the final ruling on Tuesday after deliberating for two hours,

Romania’s largest far-right party is scrambling to find a candidate after the independent front-runner it supported was barred from May’s presidential election.