BUCHAREST/BRUSSELS (own report) – Romania is seeing a growing protest against dubious interventions in the country’s presidential election. The political establishment, supported by Brussels and Berlin, is accused of blatant manipulation. Manipulation began last November in response to the unexpected first-round victory of a presidential candidate regarded as pro-Russian. After strong disapproval signalled by EU leaders and an openly critical intervention by the then US administration under President Joe Biden, Romania’s Constitutional Court declared the election null and void. Now, the NATO-sceptical candidate, an independent politician from the far right, has been barred from standing in the presidential re-run in May. He won the first round at the end of November partly on a peace and anti-corruption ticket, gaining the support of many Romanians who considered corruption to be rife across the Romanian political establishment. The public was already highly critical of their annulment, but the stratagem to exclude a popular candidate is now driving more voters to the extreme right. Such machinations were also evident in neighbouring Moldova at the end of 2024. Pro-Western political forces in one of the poorest countries in Europe won the presidential election by a whisker, thanks to irregularities in voting arrangements for the many Moldovans living abroad: 231 polling stations were set up in Western countries, compared to only two in the whole of Russia. Read more