Far-right populist Calin Georgescu has been detained by police as part of an inquiry by prosecutors into election campaign fraud, after he came from nowhere to win the first round of last year’s presidential election.
Georgescu was stopped in traffic in the capital, Bucharest, on Wednesday.
His supporters said he was on his way to submit his candidacy for new elections in May, after last December’s second-round run-off was annulled by the constitutional court.
Two right-wing populist parties said they were mobilising their supporters to head for the prosecutor’s office, where Georgescu was taken for questioning.
Romanian reports said police were erecting barriers around the building.
Prosecutors have made a series of allegations against Georgescu, according to Romanian reports, including acts against the constitutional order and involvement in an extremist organisation.
Populist opposition parties had earlier filed a no-confidence motion against Romania’s democratically elected pro-European government.
Earlier this month, Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, resigned ahead of an impeachment vote prompted by the cancelled December election.
Iohannis had at the time declassified intelligence documents that suggested that hundreds of TikTok accounts had been activated backing Georgescu. Romanian foreign intelligence said Russia had been behind that move, as well as thousands of cyber-attacks and other sabotage.
“Where is democracy now?” Georgescu’s communications team posted on X on Wednesday, tagging President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and US Vice-President JD Vance.
Earlier this month, Vance had accused Romania of annulling the elections based on “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and enormous pressure from its neighbours.
Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu accused Elon Musk of a “form of interference” in Romania’s elections, after the billionaire posted several messages of support for Georgescu.
