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Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Șoșoacă, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May re-run of the poll.
Earlier in March, the electoral bureau barred Călin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40% before the re-run election.
Georgescu, a fierce EU and Nato critic, shot to prominence last November when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting.
But the constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favour.
On Saturday, an electoral commission statement said it had also taken the “decision to reject the candidacy of Diana Șoșoacă”.
It noted that the country’s constitutional court had already banned her from standing last November for making declarations “contrary to democratic values”.
The electoral office did, however, validate the candidacy of George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). Following the exclusion of Georgescu, he is the most prominent figure on the far right still in the running.
Șoșoacă, a 49-year-old Euro MP known for her pro-Russia views posted on Facebook: “I am proof that we do not live in a democracy.” She said she would appeal the ruling.
On Thursday, she donned boxing gloves as she filed her candidacy, declaring herself ready to “fight the system once again” as she bids to “make Europe and Romania great again”, borrowing Trumpian terms.
Șoșoacă has been accused of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and antisemitic views.
She opposed anti-Covid measures during the pandemic and, in July 2024, was expelled from the European Parliament in Strasbourg after loudly interrupting debates.
Her small party, S.O.S. Romania, won 24 seats after securing about 7% of votes in December’s legislative elections.
Simion’s AUR said banning Șoșoacă’s candidacy “represents a further blow to Romanian democracy and a serious violation of fundamental rights and freedoms”.
The eastern European state has been plunged into chaos since Georgescu’s surprise emergence in November on the back of a huge TikTok social media campaign, which was marred by suspicions of Russian interference.
In a shock decision, the November election was cancelled and this week Georgescu was definitively excluded from the election, the first round of which is scheduled for 4 May.
Georgescu’s exclusion led to some violent protests.
On Saturday, several thousand people marched through Bucharest to express their attachment to the EU.
