Romania’s top court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election after Russia was accused of orchestrating an online campaign to promote a pro-Kremlin candidate.

The constitutional court’s decision, which is final, came after Klaus Iohannis, the president, declassified intelligence on Wednesday alleging that Moscow was behind Calin Georgescu’s shock win in the first round.

Mr Georgescu, an outsider who this week vowed to end Romanian aid for Ukraine, surged in the polls after gaining popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

He built his campaign from the ground up in a short period of time before suddenly emerging as a frontrunner in the first round, which took place on Nov 24.

He had been due to face off against Elena Lasconi from the Save Romania Union Party in a run-off on Sunday.

Romania’s constitutional court received a variety of legal complaints after files were released by the country’s intelligence service, foreign intelligence service, and ministry of internal affairs.

The court initially ordered a recount of the first-round votes, but now a new date will be set to rerun the first round.