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Bulgaria Radev Will Test Europe’s Resolve on Russia
20 April 2026
Romania’s Constitutional Court has annulled the presidential election process, citing intelligence reports that nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu benefited from a Kremlin-driven TikTok influence campaign.
This is not the first time this has happened in Central Europe. In 2016, presidential elections were rerun in Austria after Alexander Van der Bellen narrowly defeated far-right candidate Norbert Hofer.
However, Georgescu was expected to win a run-off against liberal leader Elena Lasconi. The court decision eases fears about the future of a key NATO member (with the largest NATO base in Europe) and gives mainstream parties in Romania a second chance – after a hugely disappointing first round.
It’s democracy, stupid. The weakness of Romanian democratic institutions is more to blame than foreign interference, as we assert in the recent ‘Shielding European Democracy’ report. Listen to Alina Inayeh, our fellow, who speaks about this on our podcast.