Romanian presidential candidate and right-wing populist Calin Georgescu was detained by police on Feb. 26 and charged by prosecutors for alleged crimes related to the country's recent elections.
Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate who has referred to Ukraine as a "fictional state," emerged as the frontrunner in Romania's presidential race in the first-round vote on Nov. 24. Romania's Constitutional Court annulled those results after reviewing evidence of "organized manipulation from abroad."
The Romanian Prosecutor General's office has now charged Georgescu with "incitement to actions against the constitutional order" and other crimes in a six-count indictment.
Georgescu was allegedly on his way to newly register his candidacy on Feb. 26 when he was detained and called in for questioning at the Prosecutor General's office, his communications team claimed in a Facebook post.
The post included video footage of police stopping Georgescu and serving him documents from state prosecutors.
Romanian authorities on Dec. 4 declassified evidence of what they described as a "highly organized" social media campaign backed by a "state actor" to boost Georgescu, a fringe ultranationalist who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A relative unknown, Georgescu won 23% of the votes in the first round, defeating pro-EU reformist Elena Lasconi, who took 19%.
The Romanian foreign intelligence agency (SIE) reported that "aggressive Russian hybrid attacks, including cyberattacks, information leaks, and sabotage" contributed to Georgescu's unexpected victory.
The subsequent court decision to annul the Nov. 24 election result triggered criticism from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who claimed the ruling was the result of "flimsy suspicions ... and enormous pressure" during his speech at the Munich Security Conference.
Billionaire Elon Musk, another key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, responded to news of Georgescu's arrest with a post on X, the social media platform he owns.
"This is messed up," he wrote.
Bloomberg reported on Feb. 18 that the Trump administration has pressured the Romanian government to allow Georgescu's candidacy to proceed, despite evidence of Russian interference.
Georgescu has said that if elected president, he would ban Ukrainian grain exports through Romania and halt further military aid to Ukraine.
A new first round of presidential elections in Romania is scheduled for May 4. The current indictment could interfere with Georgescu's ability to run a second time.
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