Călin Georgescu attends a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest, Romania, 24 January 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE / ROBERT GHEMENT

Călin Georgescu, the Romanian pro-Russian presidential candidate who won the first round of November presidential elections before they were cancelled over suspected Russian interference, has been detained by police, his campaign team said on Wednesday.

The Romanian Prosecutor’s Office said it was investigating Georgescu on a number of counts, including the setting up of a “fascist, racist or xenophobic organisation”.

Earlier on Wednesday, the police searched the homes and offices of dozens of Georgescu’s associates, including his head of security and fellow politician Horațiu Potra, according to English-language media outlet Romania Journal.

“They are trying to come up with evidence to justify cancelling the election results and to do whatever they can to block my candidacy for the presidency. They have been looking for three months, but came up with nothing,” Georgescu wrote to his supporters, adding: “I will not give up. I am counting on your support.”

A little-known politician until recently, Georgescu stunned Romania’s political establishment by winning the first round of the presidential election with 22.93% of the vote in November, according to official figures.

However, Romania’s top court annulled the election results in December “in order to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process” amid intelligence reports of “aggressive” hybrid attacks being launched at the country by Moscow as well as a Russian bot campaign on TikTok.