Romanian presidential hopeful arrested and indicted

A Romanian presidential candidate who came out of nowhere last year to win the first round of the election has reportedly been detained.

Far-right populist Calin Georgescu is now facing criminal charges.

He was stopped in traffic in Bucharest on his way to register for the elections in May, when he was picked up.

Take Him Out

After Calin Georgescu shockingly won the first round of the elections, the second round run-off election was annulled.

After word passed that Georgescu had been arrested, the prosecutor’s office announced that he had been charged with "incitement to actions against the constitutional order.”

Once that announcement had been made, right-wing populist groups started to organize and head to the office where Georgescu had been taken.

As protesters started to gather, local police started to put up barriers to head off the protesters before things got out of hand.

According to prosecutors, Georgescu was being investigated for having made "false information, false statements" and for setting up an organization with "fascist, racist or xenophobic characteristics" as well as forming an antisemitic organization.

If his legal problems are not dismissed, Georgescu could be removed from the presidential election, which is scheduled for May 4 and 18.

According to then-President Klaus Iohannis, hundreds of TikTok accounts had been activated before the election to back Georgescu.

The believe that the Russians and Romanian foreign intelligence were behind it, as well as other cyber-attacks that took place.

After Elon Musk had posted a show of support with numerous posts for Georgescu, Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu accused him of election interference.

If Georgescu's case regarding his ability to run for election comes before the constitutional court, hopes are not high, as the court had blocked another right-wing candidate, Diana Sosoaca, from running in the last election.

This starts to get really interesting because Romania is part of NATO, so there will be some serious questions being asked about this by our NATO allies.

Georgescu has come under fire in the past for statements that were complimentary of Putin, having called him a “patriot and a leader.” He tried to soften those comments by insisting that he was not a fan of Putin.

While all this was going on, Romanian Police also announced that numerous raids had already been carried out targeting dozens of individuals. The police stated they were investigating an organization "with a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature.”

They did not name Georgescu in the statement, but it seems pretty clear at this point that he is the target of the investigation, or at least some of his allies are.