蜜芽传媒

A cancelled election, a cancelled candidate and a divided country 鈥� is Romania鈥檚 democracy under threat?

Last December the country鈥檚 Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election two days before the final vote, citing outside interference, with the nationalist pro-Putin candidate, Calin Georgescu, riding high in the polls. TikTok sensation and portraying himself as an outsider, Georgescu鈥檚 anti-EU and anti-NATO message resonated with an unhappy electorate. His sudden success was unprecedented, as was the cancelation of a European democratic election.

The political establishment claim that cyberwarfare and Russian interference gave them no choice. Georgescu has now been eliminated from May鈥檚 Presidential re-run.

Historian Tessa Dunlop asks how this happened, why it matters and what next for this strategically important country on the eastern edge of the EU and NATO?

Presenter: Dr. Tessa Dunlop
Producer: John Murphy
Studio Mix: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Protest organized by ultra-nationalist party AUR, over the annulled presidential first round of elections, Bucharest, Romania - 26 Mar 2025. Credit: Robert Ghement/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)