The Romanian Constitutional Court has requested a recount of the presidential vote won by Russian supporter Calin Georgescu.

Romania’s Constitutional Court this Thursday asked the Central Electoral Office to recount the votes of the first round of the presidential election, which was won by ultranationalist and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu.

The Constitutional Court has moved the session from today to Friday in which it plans to address two appeals requesting the results be annulled.

The Court also requested additional information on possible irregularities in the campaign financing of Georgescu, who officially declared that he had not spent money on his electoral campaign, despite carrying out intensive electoral activity on social networks.

The decision to recount the 9.4 million votes cast last Sunday is unprecedented and could impact the candidates competing in the second round and the date of the election.

In addition to Georgescu, who received almost 23% of the ballots cast, pro-European Elena Lasconi advanced to the second round with 19%, but with a margin of only 2,740 votes over Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Marcel Ciolacu.

Cioluaku had already announced his resignation as social democratic leader after being eliminated in the second round.

The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Grebla, also recalled that the campaign for the second round will begin after the Constitutional Court validates the two candidates with the most votes, he explained to the Agerpress agency.

This means that the second round, initially scheduled for December 8, will be held on another date after the new count is validated by both candidates.

Regarding the appeals for annulment, one of them, presented by presidential candidate Cristian Vasil Terhès, argues that the electoral process was plagued with irregularities, including a lack of transparency in campaign financing and possible outside interference. .

According to the newspaper Adevarul, the second appeal was rejected because it was submitted out of time.

Lasconi and Elie Bolozan, the interim leader of the PNL, the largest centre-right party, have both urged the Constitutional Court to act with maximum responsibility, and to respect the popular vote.

According to both politicians, ignoring legitimate results could lead to a serious crisis of confidence in the country’s democratic institutions.

In recent hours, amid fears of possible Russian interference due to his speech against NATO and the European Union (EU), the charges against Georgescu have been doubled to explain how he financed his campaign.

The Permanent Electoral Authority this Thursday asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Georgescu because of suspicions that he had not disclosed expenses or contributions to his campaign.

Georgescu declared to AEP that he had no contributions and no expenses.

Tony Grebla, president of AEP, said, “This is a situation that deserves a detailed investigation, because it runs contrary to the normal dynamics of election campaigns.”

AEP revealed on Wednesday the presidential candidates’ expenses and Georgescu’s non-existent expenses, which contrast with the more than three million euros invested by Lasconi.

Meanwhile, outgoing President Klaus Iohannis has called an urgent meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) to investigate whether cyberattacks, possibly carried out by external actors, could affect the electoral process.