Not widely known until a few months ago, the contentious Georgescu has voiced admiration for 1930s Romanian fascists, and after recent questioning by prosecutors gave what appeared to be a Nazi salute. He has criticised Romania’s commitments to the EU and Nato, praised Vladimir Putin — and Donald Trump — and wants to halt Romanian aid to Ukraine.

The country’s electoral commission ruled on Sunday that Calin Georgescu, an outspoken critic of Ukraine and NATO, could not compete in the do-over election.

Romania's central election authority on Sunday barred far-right pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu from running in May's presidential election re-run, a decision likely to deepen a constitutional crisis in the European Union and NATO member.

Analysts have said Ponta could sway some Georgescu voters away from whoever the hard-right parties put forward - giving him a chance of reaching the second round, where he could f

Romania's top court upheld a decision to ban far-right candidate Calin Georgescu from standing in a presidential election rerun in May, it said on Tuesday, leaving his allies with four days to find a replacement.

Romanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has lost his appeal against a ruling barring him from participating in the country’s presidential election in May. The Constitutional Court issued the final ruling on Tuesday after deliberating for two hours,