Bucharest, 26 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The Romanian pro-Russian right-wing extremist and former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu was detained on Wednesday, his election campaign team confirmed on his Facebook profile.

The public prosecutor accuses him of "inciting action against the constitutional order," spreading false information, providing false information on election campaign financing, founding a fascist and anti-Semitic organization, and publicly venerating crimes against humanity and fascist and racist ideologies.

The public prosecutor did not mention Georgescu's name in its statement on the allegations.

TV images showed Georgescu entering the public prosecutor's office flanked by police officers. Police reportedly seized Georgescu while he was driving in Bucharest.

Hundreds of Georgescu's supporters demonstrated in front of the public prosecutor's office while he was being interrogated for hours.

Election must be repeated

Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round of Romania's presidential election on November 24. Shortly before the run-off vote, however, the Constitutional Court annulled the first round due to irregularities in campaign financing. The election must be repeated.

Georgescu intends to stand again in the new election set for May 4. The Constitutional Court has yet to decide whether he is allowed to do so. The deadline for the authorization of all candidacies is March 15.

Election rejection criticized by US

The election annulment sparked sharp criticism from US Vice President JD Vance, who at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month noted that "the argument was that Russian interference had infected the Romanian elections."

Vance said "you can believe that it's wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do." But he added if "your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with."

Prosecutors have been investigating Georgescu since December in connection with unclear campaign financing.

Romania's secret services had also complained of Russian interference in Georgescus's election campaign.

Representatives of the right-wing nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, which Georgescu supports, expressed their solidarity after his arrest.

Homes of supporters searched

Dozens of house searches of Georgescu supporters were also carried out across the country, the public prosecutor's office in Bucharest reported. The searches were related to campaign financing and suspected illegal right-wing extremist propaganda.

Investigators said they were also looking for weapons. There was no official information about the outcome of these actions.

Citing unnamed investigators, the media reported that the searches were targeting foreign legion members with connections to Russia and Chechnya, as well as to those with whom Georgescu had contact. Weapons were also found, according to the report.

Georgescu had turned down a state-sponsored protective detail to which he was entitled as a presidential candidate last autumn. Instead, he was guarded by the security company of a foreign legionnaire who has long been targeted by the judiciary for illegal possession of firearms.

Photo: MIA archive