FT: Calin Georgescu’s presidential bid could be rejected because of the criminal investigation

Călin Georgescu was, just a few months ago, an ultranationalist known to few even in Romania. Today, he is at the forefront for the second time in the country’s presidential contest, and enjoys the active support not only of Moscow, but also of the Trump administration, defiantly resisting another attempt by the authorities in Bucharest to keep him out of power, The Financial Times reports.

With vocal support from JD Vance, Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services, Georgescu has become the ultimate symbol of how the Trump administration’s embrace of Moscow is leaving old European allies in a quandary.

“I totally resonate with what Trump is saying,” Georgescu told the Financial Times in December, before the vote was called off. “I want to have a very strong partnership with the US,” he said, while praising Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose “patriotism” he said he was trying to emulate in Romania.

Georgescu was the frontrunner in last year’s first round of presidential elections that Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled, saying he likely benefited from an illegal campaign coordinated by Moscow. Georgescu’s journey from pedologist to far-right politician, Covid conspiracy theorist and social media sensation has led some politicians in his country to suggest enduring links to communist-era secret police and Russia. Crin Antonescu, the joint candidate of pro-European coalition parties in May’s presidential election, called him the “ghost” of Romania’s feared Cold War spy agency, the Securitate.

“He is a ghost of the former Securitate, he has the discourse of the Securitate, he probably has the support of the old Securitate,” Antonescu said last month.

“It is absolutely shameful that, 35 years after a revolution against communism and against the Securitate, we are now faced with a huge mirage and a lie.” Russia has expressed support for Georgescu, who denies allegations that his campaign was aided by Moscow. The Romanian politician plans to run again in May and is currently leading the opinion polls, with approximately 40 percent support.

The Russian foreign intelligence agency SVR said on Tuesday that a Romanian criminal investigation launched against Georgescu last week was part of the “European war against anti-establishment leaders who are open supporters of US President Donald Trump.”

Despite pressure from both the US and Russia, Bucharest appears determined to bar the 62-year-old “sovereign” from running. Two people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times that a presidential bid could be rejected because of the criminal investigation.

The charges against Georgescu include serious crimes such as attempting to undermine the constitutional order with the help of fascist groups, which carries a possible prison sentence of more than 10 years. As he left the court where he was taken for questioning, Georgescu gave a Nazi salute, the Financial Times notes.

His contacts with Russian citizens, including pro-war leader Alexander Dugin, are not currently under criminal investigation, a senior Romanian official said. If Romania brings charges against Georgescu, “it will defend its sovereignty,” the official said, adding that the Bucharest administration is appalled by the support it receives from the United States.

Georgescu has denied receiving any help from Moscow. But he has acknowledged that he knew and met Dugin, who has advocated for Russia to attack Ukraine well before Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. “I know Dugin, of course I know him,” Georgescu told Realitatea TV in December. “I met him once in Vienna, then with other people.”

A past “full of gaps and opaque details”

Dugin described Georgescu as a “remarkable politician.” He told CNN Romania’s Antena 3 in December:“He is against globalism, against the liberal agenda, he is a Romanian patriot, a staunch Orthodox, a traditionalist, a conservative. For Russia, it is much easier to deal with such a politician than with anyone else.”

Georgescu’s life story is full of gaps and opaque details, according to four people who have followed his career, quoted by the FT.

After graduating in 1986, when Romania was ruled by communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, Georgescu said he “gained more experience from missions in the UK and the US,” according to a CV he posted online.

During Ceaușescu’s regime, permission to travel abroad — especially “missions” to Western countries — was strictly controlled by the country’s secret police.

“When someone was sent abroad to gain experience, they were first recruited,” said Hunor Kelemen, chairman of the ethnic Hungarian UMDR party, which is part of the coalition government in Bucharest.

“They could only travel with the blessing of the Securitate. And Georgescu’s entire post-communist career shows that he became part of the system.” Georgescu did not respond to requests for comment from the Financial Times. In the 2000s, Georgescu lived mostly in Austria, buying property and starting a family.

Between 2010 and 2012, he held an unpaid role as a rapporteur at the UN, and from 2013 to 2016, he headed the European branch of the Club of Rome, a think tank founded during the Cold War that included Soviet scientists, discussing issues such as sustainability and climate change. His views have become more radical and conspiratorial during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he has opposed vaccination mandates and restrictions.

In his social media videos, he often quotes the Bible, pop culture, and Romania’s fascist leaders, while making outlandish claims that juices are full of “nanochips” or that Covid doesn’t exist because “nobody saw it.”

He returned to Romania in 2021 and, according to prosecutors, began organizing with right-wing extremists for a presidential bid in 2024 under the campaign slogan “Food, Water, Energy.”