Fico Calls on European Commission to Take Stance on Romanian Election

Bratislava, March 10 (TASR) - The European Commission must take a stance on the presidential election in Romania or else the entire EU will see its trustworthiness eroded, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Monday in response to Calin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of the annulled presidential election, who has had his election registration turned down. "The European Commission must take a stance on the presidential election in Romania and assume responsibility for it. If C. Georgescu is being discriminated against for no other reason but the fact he has a different opinion, then European protection must be extended to him. If the European Commission becomes convinced that the Romanian bodies act properly, it must stand behind them," Fico posted on Facebook. If the European Commission won't comment, it will lead to a "dangerous precedent when any successful candidate might get eliminated from a free democratic competition just because his different opinions are inconvenient", maintains Fico. The Romanian electoral committee based its Sunday's decision on the verdict of the Constitutional Court, which on Friday, December 6, annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election, held on November 24. Georgescu won the election surprisingly despite having minimal support in prior polls. According to findings of Romanian secret services, the fairness of the vote was disrupted by Russia through its use of thousands of TikTok and Telegram accounts, an accusation that Moscow rejects. In addition, the Romanian prosecution office launched a criminal prosecution against Georgescu in February. mf