Romanian hard-right politician Călin Georgescu has said that Radu Pally, his election campaign manager, had been the target of searches by prosecutors and police.
On February 11, Georgescu, who won the first round of the cancelled November national election, wrote on Facebook: “The militia officer Predoiu and some prosecutors sent masked officers to the home of my campaign manager, Radu Pally, this morning.”
“I urgently demand an end to this abuse — you cannot intimidate us — we cannot be brought to our knees!”
Since the last ballot was annulled, Georgescu has surged further in the polls and has been projected to win new elections set to be run on May 4 and May 18.
In a press statement, the Romanian police responded: “The activities are carried out in a criminal case, under the co-ordination of the competent parquet unit and in compliance with the legal framework in force.
“In fact, all the activities of our institution, in all criminal cases are carried out under the co-ordination of the prosecutor’s units and under the authority of the case prosecutors, aiming at finding out the truth.
“We reject and disavow any unfounded accusation of politicising the professional police act,” and that the activity of criminal prosecution of the judicial police is non-public and takes place under the authority of the competent prosecutor’s units,” the statement continued.
“We reiterate that all the staff of our institution work with professionalism, impartiality, equidistance and political neutrality.”
Pally and his wife Crenguța Pally are two former journalists who have been campaign leaders for Georgescu.
In first round of the Romanian presidential election of November 24, Georgescu beat establishment candidates only for the Constitutional Court to annul the results on December 6, causing an institutional crisis.
Georgescu had allegedly received “dark support” from Russia but no credible evidence has been brought forward to prove this.
COMMENT: The documents relied upon to annul Romania’s presidential election first round provide no concrete evidence of Russian state interference or any links between presidential candidate Calin Georgescu and Russia, writes @GElefteriu. https://t.co/AMkt8cxIEp
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 9, 2025
On February 10, Romania‘s outgoing President, Klaus Iohannis, resigned with opposition hard-right parliamentary parties proposing to have him impeached.
With the motion on that up for a vote – and Iohannis deeply unpopular – analysts have said some lawmakers from mainstream pro-European parties could come onboard to give the hard-right’s impeachment effort the required majority.
The three hard-right groupings, whose support has risen since Georgescu’s surprise win, had used their campaign against Iohannis as a reason to stage protests and attempt to seize the political agenda.
Under Iohannis, Romania has regressed on several fronts. In education, the basic skills of 15-year-olds have declined significantly, according to experts. Economically, the country suffers with high inflation, a large budget deficit, rising interest rates and growing public debt.
Romania has also failed to meet the Eurozone accession criteria, despite having met all five in Iohannis’ first year.
The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, has raised concerns about the annulment of Romania’s presidential elections last December. https://t.co/8VUrWGlLpC
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 29, 2025
