A top court in Romania has unanimously rejected a request to annul the country’s presidential election by the far-right losing candidate.
Romania’s Constitutional Court dismissed as unfounded the request by politician George Simion, who alleged foreign interference and coordinated manipulation affected the vote.
Mr Simion is the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. He was initially predicted to win the election – and lost the race to his pro-European Union opponent.
A late boost in the polls for Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan saw the 38-year-old far-right populist concede defeat on Sunday.
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Mr Dan obtained 53.6% of the vote, a margin of more than 829,000 votes.
After the result, Mr Simion admitted he had been beaten but declared that he would keep fighting.
“I will be there in all of the battles we have ahead of us – this work is just starting and I will be there with every one of you,” he said, punching the air in the early hours of Monday morning.
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However, by Tuesday, he claimed to have hard evidence of foreign interference in the election.
He also alleged that “deceased people” had participated in the vote.
Mr Simion then submitted a formal request to Romania’s Constitutional Court, calling for it to annul the result.
After the court announced its decision, Mr Simion said in a post on Facebook that it “has continued the coup”.
“We have no choice but to fight!” his post read. “I call on you to stand with me, today and in the coming weeks!”
The court said its decision is final.
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Sunday’s tense vote was held months after the same court voided the previous election.
Far-right outsider Calin Georgescu led the first round on that occasion, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
