President Iohannis says court’s decision to invalidate Romania’s presidential election should be respected

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President Klaus Iohannis said in a speech Friday night that the Romanian Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the results of the presidential election was legitimate and must be respected.

Just hours after the verdict was announced and sent shockwaves through Romanian society, Iohannis raised the possibility of foreign interference in the unexpected victory of the previously unknown far-right nationalist candidate Karin Georgescu. He explained that this decision was made after seriously considering gender issues.

“After the election, we started receiving notes from intelligence agencies about some strange things,” Iohannis said.

“I received the report and what I read was very worrying, so I convened the Romanian National Security Council,” he explained. “The conclusions were significant.”

Romania’s president said that although Georgescu had declared “zero campaign spending, even if he conducted a sophisticated campaign,” Iohannis had committed “large-scale illegal election support.” It has become clear that he was profiting from what he called.

“We have received information from intelligence agencies that this candidate is receiving illegal support from a foreign country. This is a national security issue,” he said.

Georgescu ran a successful campaign on the social media platform TikTok. His popularity exploded in the weeks leading up to the vote, with the candidate racking up tens of millions of views just days before the first round of voting, earning him the nickname TikTok Messiah.

“Romania is a safe and solid country.”

Mr. Iohannis’ words confirm what was learned from declassified bombshell information from Romanian intelligence revealed on Wednesday that Mr. Georgescu’s victory was “not a natural outcome.” It says a coordinated social media campaign by “state actors” artificially propped up his victory.

The documents showed that a pre-organized sleeper network suddenly became active on the app two weeks before the election.

Romanian intelligence services concluded that the network used techniques typical of state actors in recruiting and coordinating others through the messaging platform Telegram.

The documents also revealed that individuals who supported Georgescu’s candidacy spent nearly 1 million euros during the campaign, with up to 950 euros being paid for reposting on the app.

Georgescu, who had raised many eyebrows for his biased beliefs and comments supporting Romania’s Nazi collaborationist leaders during World War II, said he had no campaign budget and was helped through volunteers. insisted.

Meanwhile, Iohannis, whose term was due to end on December 21, assured Romanians that stability would be maintained by remaining prime minister until his successor was legally elected.

“According to Romania’s constitution, the president continues in office until the new president is sworn in. Therefore, when the new president is invested, that is when I step down as president,” he said.

“I will continue to work for a democratic, free, modern and secure European Romania,” Iohannis said.

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“Romania is a stable, strong and secure country. I say this about the economy, investments and markets. I say this to the European Union: Romania is and always will be a safe and strong country. “I say this to NATO: Romania is a safe country, Romania is not in trouble,” he concluded.

The new government, set to be formed by a coalition of pro-EU parties after last Sunday’s parliamentary elections, will decide new dates for two presidential elections.