Calin Georgescu has friends in high places. In the past few weeks the Romanian presidential hopeful has received support from America’s vice-president, J. D. Vance, and its director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard—as well as from Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR. Last November Mr Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate, came top in the first round of his country’s presidential election. But the constitutional court annulled the vote amid suspicions that Russia interfered. The election will be restaged in May. Electoral authorities will decide by March 19th whether Mr Georgescu can run.