Romania’s pro-Russia presidential candidate to fight election ban

Cǎlin Georgescu and his wife, Cristela Georgescu, arrive at the central electoral bureau in Bucharest, where he submitted his candidacy for the May presidential ballot rerun. Photograph: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea/Reuters

Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.

Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.