Romania’s largest opposition party threw its support behind the poll-leading pro-Russian politician whose shock victory in last year’s presidential election prompted authorities to invalidate the result.

The leader of Romania's nationalist party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, was elected, on January 14, vice-president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party),

Călin Georgescu, an independent far-right candidate with pro-Russian sympathies, surprisingly won the first round of the presidential election on 24 November. In response, Romania's Constitutional Court decided to annul the first round of the presidential election and order a full rerun, preventing the run-off from taking place.

Thousands of flag-waving Romanians protested outside parliament on Friday against the annulment of presidential elections, where an obscure far-right candidate had been the front-runner amid claims of Russian interference.

Călin Georgescu, the far-right candidate who emerged as the favourite at the first round of the annulled presidential election in December, is leading in an opinion poll based on him running in the vote rescheduled for May.

Romanian far-right presidential election candidate Calin Georgescu delivers a press statement at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, December 19, 2024. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS/File Photo BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian far-right pro-Russian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu remained voters' top choice ahead of a re-run of a presidential election in May,