Romanian appellate court declares annulment of presidential elections invalid

In a ruling the court determined that the results of the first round of presidential elections, held in November 2024, were wrongfully dismissed. Consequently, according to the letter of the law, a second round must now be conducted, in which Georgesku, who has been under house arrest for nearly a month, is assured victory.

The appellate court's decision may be contested within a week; should no challenge arise, it will take effect. Given that the disqualification of the country's most popular politician, Georgesku, was a collaborative effort between the official Bucharest and the EU leadership, serious political turbulence is anticipated in Romania.

Recently, Georgesku's house arrest has been extended by an additional two months, ostensibly to prevent him from leading protests in response to the elections scheduled for May.

A significant civil conflict in Romania seems unavoidable, as a considerable portion of the populace refuses to recognize either the annulled elections or the newly scheduled ones.