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Bratislava – The European Commission (EC) must take a stance on the presidential elections in Romania, according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), otherwise it will reduce the credibility of the entire European Union. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic responded on Monday to the rejection of the re-registration of Călin Georgescu as the winner of the first round of annulled presidential elections for a new vote, reports TASR.
“The European Commission must take a stance on the presidential elections in Romania. And take responsibility for it. If Călin Georgescu is being wronged only because he has a different opinion, he must receive European protection. If the EC is convinced that the Romanian authorities are acting correctly, it must support them,” wrote Fico on the social network.
If the EC does not express itself, according to Fico, a “dangerous precedent will be set, where it will be possible in free democratic competition to remove a successful candidate just because he does not conform with his different opinions.”
The Romanian electoral commission based its Sunday decision on the ruling of the constitutional court. On December 6, the Romanian constitutional court annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections from November 24. In it, Georgescu surprisingly won despite minimal support according to previous surveys. The fairness of the vote was disrupted by Russia through thousands of accounts on the TikTok and Telegram platforms, according to intelligence findings. Moscow denied these claims.
In addition, the Romanian prosecution began criminal proceedings against Georgescu in February. He is accused of incitement to action against the constitutional order, initiating or founding a fascist, racist, or xenophobic organization, or public support for the cult of persons guilty of genocide and war crimes, and also of false statements about the financing of the pre-election campaign.
The repeated first round of new presidential elections will be held on May 4. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round, a possible second round of elections will take place on May 18. (March 10)
“The European Commission must take a stance on the presidential elections in Romania. And take responsibility for it. If Călin Georgescu is being wronged only because he has a different opinion, he must receive European protection. If the EC is convinced that the Romanian authorities are acting correctly, it must support them.” Robert Fico