Gergescu, an ultranationalist without a political party, was a little-known politician until he took the lead in the first round of voting after authorities said there was a coordinated foreign hybrid attack aimed at swaying the election.
Prosecutors raided three properties in the city of Brasov in the mountainous region of Transylvania in connection with an investigation into potential voter corruption, money laundering and computer forgery. They are also investigating whether there have been any violations of the ban on organizations and symbols of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature, they said in a press statement on Saturday.
“The search concerns the possible involvement of natural persons in the illegal financing of the election campaign of the Romanian presidential candidate using amounts that there are indications may be derived from criminal activity. According to the statement, it was later put into the money laundering process.”
Pešchir said he gave Georgescu’s campaign 1 million euros, of which TikTok received 360,000 euros, according to a declassified intelligence file. A person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed local media reports that Peshir was the man at the center of the raid.
The election crisis is a major blow to Romania and threatens to destabilize the important member of the European Union and NATO, which shares a long border with Ukraine. Georgescu won more than 2 million votes in the first round of the contest, winning about 23% of the vote in the field of candidates, despite being little known a few weeks ago.
He is highly critical of both NATO and the EU and has pledged to end all Romanian aid to Ukraine and put Romanian interests first. The Constitutional Court’s decision to cancel the presidential election plunged the country into political turmoil and drew criticism from Georgiescu and his main rival, the liberal pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, who received about 19% of the vote in the first round.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department said it supported Romania’s efforts to maintain the integrity of its elections and free them from “malign foreign influence.”
“The integrity of Romania’s elections is paramount to Romania’s hard-won democracy,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “We call on all political parties to defend Romania’s constitutional order and to participate in a peaceful democratic process that reflects the democratic will of the Romanian people, without the threat of violence and intimidation.”
