Almost 40% of Romanian voters are still undecided for those voting in the elections next month, according to the latest opinion polls.
The vote on May 4 intervened after the Constitutional Court canceled the last elections in December and prevented the precursor from presenting himself again.
In December, an ultra -nationalist candidate then unknown Calin Georgescu won a shock victory in the first round of the race.
However, the elections were canceled by the Constitutional Court after allegations emerged from Russian interference to promote Georgescu, who presented himself as independent.
Four of the 11 candidates in May reinstall strongly: the chief of the far -right party George Simion, the mayor of Bucharest, Sucușor Dan, Crin Antonescu – the sole candidate of the government of the pro -EU Coalition – and Victor Ponta, a former Prime Minister.
Simion, which, according to polls, is the favorite to reach the second round, led a battle against the national press, only accords local journalists at pre -electoral events.
Ponta strives to find electoral land after a recent revelation which has proven controversial.
As Prime Minister, Ponta would have saved the capital of Serbia neighboring the floods in 2014 by releaseing the flood waters of the Danube, which rather overwhelmed several Romanian villages. “They lied to you, no one died, no household was flooded, no animal died,” said Ponta in response to allegations.
Meanwhile, Dan expressed his concerns about the disinformation appearing online in mid-cam. “There are films made with AI, things taken out of context that I said in conferences. The central electoral authority is either incompetent or acts in bad faith,“” He said.
Concerns about hybrid attacks continue
The unprecedented decision of the Constitutional Court to cancel the results of the first round two days before December 8 planned, the runoff plunged the member country of the EU and NATO in an prolonged political crisis.
Romanian's best security council declared the documents in December which showed that the country was targeted by “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks” during the electoral period.
This included a wide campaign on social media to promote Georgescu.
In February of this year, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against the far -right figure, accusing it of “incitement to actions against constitutional order”, supporting fascist groups and false declarations of electoral financing and asset disclosure. Georgescu denied any reprehensible act.
The National Audiovisual Council of Romania recently launched a campaign to combat illegal online content.
Valentin Jucan, council vice-president, told Euronews in an interview that Romanians should report online videos containing disinformation, an incentive to violence or hatred.
Editor • Sertac Aktan
