When police escorted him to the office of the attorney general on Wednesday, the far-right Romanian populist Calin Georgescu did not look anything like the steely hero he likes to present himself as on social media.

Five hours later, when Georgescu emerged, he flashed a triumphant smile before balancing on his crutches to show the same gesture that South African billionaire Elon Musk recently shocked the world with. First, he placed his right palm over his heart, then he extended his arm into what can only be interpreted as a Nazi salute.

Shortly before the incident, Musk had posted on his social media platform X that authorities had "arrested the person who won the most votes in the Romanian presidential election."

This was incorrect — Georgescu hadn't been arrested but taken in for questioning. But the false claim was still read by 17.9 million viewers in a matter of hours.

Controversy over canceled election

This was just the most recent incident in a drawn-out controversy over Romania's 2024 presidential election which the country's constitutional court had surprisingly canceled in December, just two days before the final round of voting. At the time, the far-right, pro-Russian candidate Georgescu had been the front-runner in the race.

After interrogating him on Wednesday, prosecutors placed the populist under judicial control, which bars him from leaving the country or actively engaging on social media.

Among other things, prosecutors have accused Georgescu of "incitement to actions against the constitutional order, spreading false information, and false declarations," concerning the financing of his electoral campaign. They are also revisiting previous accusations of "supporting fascist, racist, xenophobic, or antisemitic organizations" after Georgescu expressed sympathy for the pre-World War II militant Iron Guard party.

It's unclear whether current investigations will lead to a court case, and the decision whether Georgescu can run in the rescheduled presidential election in May also remains open.

Show of force by sympathizers

Supporters of the far-right populist, including the right-wing national Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party — the second-largest party in Romania's parliament — have called for a mass protest in front of the capital Bucharest's Palace of Parliament on Saturday.

The demonstration is apparently meant to be a massive show of force against the political establishment, and it's unclear whether it will be peaceful.

So far, it appears that the criminal investigations against Georgescu have only bolstered his support.

Election irregularities

While formally, the judiciary cannot be blamed for the rise of Georgescu or the far-right in Romania, overall, the way that Romania's government and judicial system have handled the recent presidential election has been full of irregularities.

For example, in October, one far-right presidential candidate was excluded from the race entirely for also publicly sympathizing with the same orthodox, nationalist Iron Guard as Georgescu had. But for reasons unknown — whether intentionally or as an oversight — he was permitted to stay in the race, and investigations into the matter were left dormant until recently.

Leading up to the race, Georgescu was polling in single digits, but surprisingly won the first round with 23% of the popular vote. This sudden rise in popularity was apparently thanks to his rising fame on the social media platform TikTok.

The constitutional court did not contest the results of the first election round, but instead cancelled the run-off election, citing intelligence that indicated Georgescu had received illegal election financing and was ostensibly being backed by Russia. While evidence is available to back this first claim, none supports the latter accusation.

Support from Elon Musk

But it seems implausible that Romania's secret service would only have uncovered Georgescu's clandestine dealings after the first round of elections and shortly before the run-off. To a large part of the public, it simply appeared as if Romania's political elite had feared that the "wrong" candidate would win.

Now, the controversy over the annulled election has gained international attention. At the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, US Vice President JD Vance cited the court's decision to cancel the election as a prime example as he accosted European governments for supposedly ignoring voter concerns and rolling back free speech.

Tech-billionaire and unelected US government agent Elon Musk, meanwhile, has been boosting Georgescu's online popularity with a series of posts of his social media platform X.

A public divided

In Romania, the public is divided over whether the election cancellation was justifiable or not. There are those among even staunch Georgescu opponents who would argue it was not. Instead, they say that the judiciary is being instrumentalized by the political elite, who are undermining democracy and the rule of law.

There is currently no known evidence that the judiciary is being influenced in the present case. But past cases of serious political meddling in judicial affairs have been documented well.

This article was translated from German.