On Thursday, March 6, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected the appeal of Călin Georgescu, the candidate who came out on top in the Romanian presidential election, but whose result was annulled due to suspicions of electoral fraud.

On December 6, 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the Romanian presidential elections due to a massive campaign on the TikTok network promoting Călin Georgescu, financed by Russian or undeclared resources.

At this stage of the investigation, there was no fraud as such in this election, but undue interference on a social network that was potentially decisive in the outcome of the election.

Was this sufficient grounds to cancel an election on the eve of a second round? When asked this question, the ECHR refused to answer.

The ECHR considers that the European Convention, which protects the “right to free elections”, applies only to the “choice of the legislative body” and not to presidential elections...

This argument is much more political than legal, according to Grégor Puppinck, director of the ECLJ, who looks back at the issues at stake in this case in the context of the geopolitical crisis that Europe is going through in our new interview of the month, which you can watch now.