Romania arrests armed men headed for Bucharest after cancelled vote

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Dozens of armed men were arrested on their way to the Romanian capital to take part in protests against the decision to scrap presidential elections because of alleged Russian interference.

The frontrunner in the annulled vote, far right candidate Călin Georgescu, had called on supporters to gather around closed polling stations on Sunday, the day of the now cancelled run-off.

“No one ever can close the door in the face of Romanians, especially not the state institutions,” Georgescu said. “The state must be open to people, not closed . . . The institutions [must] let Romanians choose their destiny and not allow others to choose for them.”

The country’s constitutional court on Friday took the unprecedented decision to annul the first round of the vote that took place last month and which was topped by Georgescu, a previously little-known fringe ultranationalist who expressed sympathy for Vladimir Putin and railed against Nato and the EU.

Romania is the first democracy to cancel an election over alleged Russian interference, although similar allegations of Moscow-backed influence campaigns were made ahead of European parliament elections in June and more recently, in Moldova’s EU referendum and presidential elections.

The Kremlin has denied meddling in Romanian or any other elections.

The 20 men arrested late on Saturday were led by a former Foreign Legion mercenary called Horaţiu Potra, and carried guns and machetes in their cars when they were stopped by police.

Potra told journalists at a police station in Ploieşti, a city 80km north of the capital, where he was taken in for questioning that he had been driving to Bucharest but refused to comment on why there were weapons in his and his fellow travellers’ cars.

Potra, whose history includes stints fighting in Africa alongside other mercenaries, has backed Georgescu. He has been photographed together with Russia’s ambassador to Romania, and had contacts within the now dissolved armed Wagner Group formerly led by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin.

President Klaus Iohannis on Sunday called for calm and unity and urged Romanians not to respond to “provocations” of any kind.

The Romanian Orthodox Church also made an unusual appeal for its priests and believers — many of whom are backing Georgescu, who espouses ultrareligious views glorifying the Romanian nation — not to take part in any demonstrations on Sunday.

The country remains deeply divided after the cancellation of the vote, with a new presidential poll to be held once a coalition government is formed following parliamentary elections last week.

There were no reports of violence as Georgescu and other far right politicians staged demonstrations in Bucharest and other cities.

The nationalist AUR party Georgescu had been previously affiliated with gathered across the country at closed polling stations.

“Today, Romanians were supposed to choose their president,” AUR chair George Simion told supporters. “The system has decided that they’re not allowed to do so . . . We want free elections!”

Simion questioned the truthfulness of the arrests, suggesting it was a scaremongering tactic. “We know how manipulation works”, he added.