Calin Georgescu had been leading in opinion polls with around 40% of the vote. He is expected to appeal the decision to exclude him from the election.

Calin Georgescu, the far-right pro-Russian frontrunner in Romania's cancelled presidential election, submitted his candidacy for the May ballot re-run on Friday amid doubts that he will be allowed to run.

Romanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has been barred from participating in May's presidential election rerun by the country's Central Electoral Bureau. In December, Romania's constitutional court annulled the first round of the vote - in which he came first - after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.

Romania’s central election authority on Sunday barred far-right pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu from running in May’s presidential election re-run.

Romania has banned the far-right frontrunner in the country’s presidential vote from taking part in the election, in a move that comes despite warnings from the US to respect voters’ wishes. The country’s electoral bureau said on Sunday it was invalidating Călin Georgescu’s candidacy after receiving objections that he had violated laws against extremism.

Romania banned far-right front-runner Calin Georgescu from taking part in May presidential election in a move that deepens the country’s political turmoil and risks provoking the wrath of Trump administration.