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.

A top Romanian court has rejected an appeal by far-right politician Calin Georgescu to lift a ban on his candidacy in the presidential rerun.

Georgescu submitted his presidential bid on Friday after allegations of Russian interference in his favor prompted Romania's Constitutional Court to cancel the original election in December