Romanian court upholds ban against far-right candidate

Calin Georgescu has lost an appeal against a decision banning him from standing in a rerun of the country's presidential election. The ruling leaves far-right parties scrambling to put forward a replacement.

Romania's top court has rejected far-right politician Calin Georgescu's appeal to run in the presidential elections set for May.

He is currently under investigation for campaign finance violations and has been accused of being backed by Russia.

Both Moscow and Georgescu have denied the allegations.

The 62-year-old won the first round of the presidential vote last year. But the result was voided by the Constitutional Court in December, just two days before the second round was due to take place.

His success raised concerns from Romania's government as well as the EU after the little-known independent candidate, at the time polling in single digits, suddenly shot to the top.

The decision to annul the results has caused a flurry of protests in recent months.

What does the court's decision mean?

Georgescu submitted his candidacy for the upcoming election on Friday, but it was rejected by the central election authority over the weekend.

Tuesday's decision by the top court to uphold the ban on his participation is final and cannot be challenged.

A crowd of Georgescu's supporters, who had gathered at the courthouse to await the ruling, responded by chanting "Thieves!"

Opinion polls show that Georgescu is the most popular candidate for the election redo. In his absence, far-right parties are scrambling to unite behind a new candidate before the March 15 submissions deadline.

With Georgescu now officially out of the race, his endorsement of a candidate is expected to have a huge influence on the voting population.

The first round of the rerun is scheduled for May 4. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the ballots, a runoff will follow on May 18.

Edited by: Natalie Muller