Kremlin believes that the presidential elections in Romania without Georgescu will have no legitimacy

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the presidential elections in Romania without the candidacy of Calin Georgescu “will have no legitimacy.” “Of course, to be honest, any election organized without him (Georgescu) will have no legitimacy,” the Russian president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.   He stressed that the rejection of Georgescu’s candidacy in the presidential elections is a “violation of all the norms of democracy in central Europe.” “In this case, Romania has chosen the path of contempt for democracy as such,” Peskov commented on the decision of the Romanian Central Electoral Bureau to reject Georgescu’s candidacy in the presidential elections on May 4, in which he was considered the favorite, EFE notes. The Kremlin spokesman described as “nonsense” the accusations that Russia has ties to Georgescu. “These are completely unfounded accusations,” he insisted.   Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has also intervened in the controversy surrounding the Romanian presidential elections. Fico asked the European Commission to take an official position on the controversies surrounding the Romanian presidential elections, following the exclusion of Calin Georgescu from the electoral race. The Head of Government in Bratislava compared the situation in our country with his political experience and warned that the lack of a reaction from the EC could affect trust in the European Union.   “The European Commission must take a position on the Romanian presidential elections. Either Calin Georgescu is right or the Romanian authorities are right. If the EC does not react, as it did in the case of Slovakia in 2020-2023, another nail will be hammered into the coffin of the lack of trust in the entire EU,” Robert Fico declared on his X account, where he tagged Calin Georgescu.   “After Georgescu, a supposedly right-wing and pro-Russian candidate, shockingly won the first round of the presidential elections, the Constitutional Court decided to annul them. The candidate was accused of various crimes and was banned from running again. He appealed to the Constitutional Court, but probably without any chance of success,” wrote Fico, a social-democratic politician but close to Hungarian conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban through his sovereigntist positions criticized by Brussels and his refusal to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.   The Slovak Prime Minister believes that the European Union must investigate these events and not ignore the situation: “In Romania, it is suspected that it is a similar case to ours and everyone is silent. Just because a presidential candidate has an opinion different from the mandatory one, should he be removed?” Fico concluded his message published on X by asking the European Commission to assume responsibility and express its opinion on the controversy surrounding the presidential elections in Romania. *** Dmitry Peskov's statement is unacceptable but in line with the Russian Federation's systematic effort to manipulate and interfere with democratic processes in Romania. The Kremlin finds that it is failing, hence the frustration, the Romanian Foreing Ministry (MAE) says in a press release sent Tuesday evening..   Russia has not had free elections for almost 20 years. An aggressor state cannot give lessons in democracy, MAE said. In contrast, in Russia the opposition has no access to institutions and legal processes. Opponents are executed just a few meters from the Kremlin.   Romania has already responded directly to foreign interference by sending home those who had been in contact with a paramilitary group (of Nazi origin) associated with a candidate who was trying to overthrow the constitutional democratic order in Romania, MAE concludes.