Romania: Pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu arrested and questioned by the public prosecutor

Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian candidate who came out on top in the first round of the presidential election in Romania on November 24, but which was annulled by the constitutional court, was arrested on Wednesday February 26, then questioned by the Romanian public prosecutor, who suspects his relatives of having links with Moscow, Romanian media report.

"Standing on crutches, he was stopped by the police in traffic with an arrest warrant to be taken for questioning. In the morning, dozens of searches were carried out at the homes of his relatives," reports the center-left daily Adevarul. Calin Georgescu did not answer journalists' questions. When asked if his relatives had links to Russia, "he smiled ironically," reports the Romanian media.

"Today, Calin Georgescu was supposed to present his candidacy for the new presidency. Just 10 minutes ago, the system stopped him in traffic and he was taken to the General Prosecutor's Office for questioning! Where is democracy now, where are the partners who should defend democracy?" , his team reacted on its official X account.

Cancelled amid suspicions of Russian interference, the November 2024 presidential election is set to be rerun in May 2025, and Calin Georgescu, the candidate for the anti-NATO and anti-EU nationalist right, is leading the polls. Little known until a few months ago, he campaigned on social media, particularly on TikTok, and his victory was a surprise that was not identified by pollsters.

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Calin Georgescu is now supported by another Romanian nationalist party, the AUR, whose president George Simion, who came in fourth place on November 24, went to the General Prosecutor's Office to protest on Wednesday. "We are waiting to see evidence. We suspect that this is a political police," he told the press, surrounded by his parliamentarians present to "demand explanations," according to the party's statement.

Since the election was annulled, the Constitutional Court's decision has been widely criticized, with the opposition calling it a "coup d'état." Even her opponent, Elena Lasconiet, who came in second, denounced it. Several demonstrations in support of Calin Georgescu have taken place in Romania over the past two months. On February 10, President Klaus Iohannis, who was heavily criticized for holding on to his post and welcoming the Constitutional Court's decision, announced his resignation.

Several searches have been carried out in recent days at the homes of Calin Georgescu's relatives, including the home of the Franco-Romanian mercenary Horațiu Potra, who is responsible for his security and who is said to have links in Russia, particularly with the paramilitary organization Wagner, reports Adevarul, which specifies that investigators have found assault weapons and more than a million dollars hidden in a safe. "The communist-Bolshevik system continues its odious abuses! (...) They are trying to invent evidence to justify the theft of the election and to do everything to block my new presidential candidacy," Calin Georgescu wrote on Facebook.