The Constitutional Court of Romania has unanimously rejected the claims made by ultranationalist candidate George Simion regarding the results of last week’s presidential election, stating that they were “baseless.”
Simion challenged the results, alleging without evidence that foreign countries like France had “bought votes” by directing funds to Moldova, and that some ballots in Romania—favoring centrist, pro-European, and pro-Ukraine candidate Nicușor Dan, who won the second round with just under 54%—were manipulated.
In a statement released on May 22, the Constitutional Court stated that it had reviewed Simion’s appeal concerning the second round of elections held on May 18 and had “unanimously rejected the request to annul the election as unfounded.”
Romania has been in political turmoil since November, when Călin Georgescu, a pro-Russian nationalist and fringe candidate, unexpectedly won the first round of voting.
However, the authorities annulled the results amid allegations of a Russian influence campaign to promote his candidacy. Georgescu was banned from running in the new elections, and a series of new rules were introduced for the rerun, whose first round was held on May 4.
Nicușor Dan’s election victory on May 18 was a further surprise, as he did not even run in the initial attempt last November, having recently started his second term as Mayor of Bucharest.
Simion, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), has advocated for the reunification of Romania and Moldova, and the cessation of military aid to Ukraine.
Known for his fiery speeches and past as a football hooligan, he was banned from entering Ukraine for three years in 2024 due to what Kyiv called “systematic anti-Ukrainian activities,” while Moldova also banned him, calling him a threat to national security.
