President Iohannis received evidence from the secret intelligence services indicating that both state and non-state actors had interfered in the election, and naming Russia as responsible for a series of aggressive hybrid attacks. The U.S. endorsed the findings of Russian involvement.
Acting on the intelligence, Iohannis declassified secret files that alleged Georgescu had unlawfully benefited from extensive electoral promotion during periods when campaigning was prohibited. Additionally, the documents alleged his campaign had received foreign financial support, despite the fact he declared he’d spent nothing on it.
The Constitutional Court was inundated by a surge of requests to annul the election in light of the declassified intelligence reports.
The information “that this campaign was illegally supported from outside Romania” brought Iohannis to the conclusion that “we are dealing with a matter of national security,” the president said in a televised speech Friday evening, after the court had announced its ruling.
What’s at stake?
For many Romanians, this election was seen as a battle between East and West. Lasconi enjoyed support from the centrist traditional parties, while Georgescu was backed by three far-right groups, two of which have recently entered parliament.
His positions on NATO and the EU — he has been highly critical of Romania’s involvement with both — stoked fears that he would rip up the country’s international alliances and turn instead toward Moscow. He has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a leader and a patriot, and vowed to end all Romanian aid to Ukraine — which would be a big step at a critical time for Kyiv.