Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) cleared the main candidacies for president of Romania, including that of far-right politician and leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) George Simion. Former Social Democratic Party (PSD) prime minister Victor Ponta, now an independent, Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan, also an independent, and the ruling coalition candidate Crin Antonescu have also been approved by the top court, which rejected all challenges against them.

The candidacy of Elena Lasconi, the leader of reformist party USR, has also been validated by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC).

The approvals come after the CCR rejected what polls said was the first-placed politician in the race, ultranationalist independent politician Calin Georgescu. The presidential bid of Diana Sosoaca, the leader of far-right party SOS Romania, has also been invalidated by the BEC, and she appealed the decision to CCR.

Romania holds presidential elections on May 4, followed by a run-off on May 18.

The main candidates

George Simion, who is allegedly backed by the popular pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu, saluted CCR’s decision over the weekend. "Today, a step forward was taken towards returning to democracy.[...] But the hard work is just beginning!" he said.

Simion is positioned to win the first round with around 30% of votes, according to a new AtlasIntel poll, after securing around 14% in 2024. In the same election, Georgescu gathered 23% of votes. Simion's current support, therefore, is lower than the two previous scores combined.

Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan is poised to come in second, qualifying for the run-off round with 26% of votes, according to the survey. Dan, also an independent, is campaigning as a centrist bent on reform. He also promised to maintain Romania's pro-EU and pro-NATO orientation.

He is followed by Crin Antonescu, the candidate backed by the Social Democratic-National Liberal-Hungarian minority party alliance in the government, with around 18% of votes. A seasoned politician and debater, Antonescu also promised to keep Romania aligned with Western values.

Victor Ponta (9%) and Elena Lasconi (3.9%) have lower levels of support. Lasconi qualified for the second round in the 2024 elections.

Other presidential candidates are Cristian Terhes (MEP since 2024 on the ticket of far-right party AUR, which he left) and Lavinia Sandru – currently a member of the PUSL party founded by controversial businessman Dan Voiculescu.

Anton Pisaroglu, former advisor to far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, abandoned his plans to run as well, after announcing that he collected some 210,000 signatures (10,000 more than needed to qualify as a candidate). 

Calin Georgescu and Diana Sosoaca rejected

Last week, CCR banned far-right politician Călin Georgescu from running for president as he failed to "respect the Constitution and defend democracy.” Georgescu’s rejection, first announced by the Central Electoral Bureau, or BEC, triggered violent protests in downtown Bucharest.

After being prevented from running himself, Georgescu allegedly decided to back the candidacies of AUR leader George Simion and POT president Anamaria Gavrila. Both parties had aligned themselves with Calin Georgescu and refrained from promoting their own candidates for president before his rejection.

According to a deal between the two party leaders, one of them would stop their campaign if they both were approved by the CCR, in order to maximize the chances that the remaining one would make it to the run-off. No contestation was submitted for Gavrila's candidacy, but CCR rejected three regarding Simion's bid for president, approving his candidacy. Gavrila's own bid for president was not yet approved.

Far-right SOS Romania leader Diana Iovanovici-Sosoaca, in turn, had her candidacy rejected by the Central Electoral Bureau, a continuation of the ban handed down last year by the Constitutional Court. The latter has not yet ruled on Sosoaca's current bid for president.

Both Georgescu and Sosoaca have publicly taken friendly stances towards Russia and have criticized Romania’s support for Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that any presidential election in Romania that takes place without the participation of Calin Georgescu is "illegitimate," Politico Europe reported.

After her rejection by BEC, Diana Sosoaca wrote letters to US president Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. She asked the former not to recognize the presidential elections in Romania because "the democratic system has been destroyed" following the rejection of her candidacy. In the letter to Putin, she claimed that she was prevented from running because she promoted peace, neutrality, and a better relationship with Russia while also criticizing EU and NATO policies.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Cateyeperspective/Dreamstime.com)