Moscow: Stop violating democratic norms! Bucharest: That’s rich coming from you.
Romania’s foreign ministry said Russia is in no position to “give lessons in democracy” after Moscow criticized Bucharest for banning ultranationalist Călin Georgescu from the presidential election do-over.
“Russia has not had free elections for almost 20 years. An aggressor state cannot give lessons in democracy,” the ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that blocking Georgescu from the election rerun — after the pro-Russian candidate won November’s canceled election — was “a violation of all democratic norms in the center of Europe,” and that elections held without him would be illegitimate.
Romania hit back, saying that the Russian opposition has no access to legal institutions and “opponents are executed a few meters from the Kremlin.”
Georgescu, powered by a successful TikTok campaign, scored a surprise win in the first round of Romania’s presidential election in November — but the vote was later annulled and Georgescu was barred from the do-over by Romanian electoral authorities over allegations Russia had influenced the original vote in his favor. Moscow denies the accusations.
The Romanian furor has triggered criticism of European democracy, with senior United States administration figures, including billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance, lambasting authorities in Bucharest.
Romanians will head to the polls to cast their votes in the first round of the new presidential election on May 4, with a runoff scheduled for May 18.
