Constitutional court judges will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Georgescu’s appeal, and a final ruling should be issued the same day.

The BEC rejected his candidacy on Sunday after a 10-4 vote, saying it did not “meet the conditions of legality”, as Georgescu “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.

Last year, the court annulled November’s first round of the vote – in which Georgescu came first – after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.

In his appeal, Georgescu said that the “BEC exceeded its legal powers”. He also argued that the constitutional court’s decision on the November election should have no bearing on his candidacy for the upcoming vote in May.

In a social media post, Georgescu also called the ban a “direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.

The electoral bureau’s decision sparked unrest in Bucharest on Sunday evening. Clashes broke out between police and Georgescu supporters who had gathered in their thousands outside the offices of the BEC.

The BBC saw at least one car turned over, and the windows of neighbouring bars smashed. At least four people were detained.

Georgescu put out a video on social media thanking the Romanian people but adding that “we should not give birth to violence or other forms of this kind compared to how it was last night. We are moving forward with great confidence for the future of this country”.

A few hundred demonstrators gathered in the city centre on Monday evening, many of them waving Romania’s national flag. There was no repeat of the clashes on Sunday night.

The crowd stood behind fences set up by police, chanting their anger at the constitutional court inside the giant building across the road.

“The court has to defend our democracy and our constitution. But they don’t do this,” Eugen told the BBC, arguing that the court’s election rulings have been politicised. “They lost their meaning.”

Around him, the crowd burst into regular chants of “Romania wake up”, “The Constitutional Court is Garbage!” and “Georgescu is our president!”.

Some voiced conspiracy theories about the Covid pandemic, like Georgescu does. One young man, his face covered “for security” was openly homophobic, saying that the far-right politician appealed to his own “conservative” and “orthodox” views.

Another group described themselves as “hooligans” and didn’t want to speak on camera.

The grievances were varied, but all talked of their disillusion with a ruling class they called corrupt and far from the people.

“They sold out our country. We have to send our kids abroad for work. We can’t be successful and have a family here. They destroyed that. But they can’t take our right to vote,” factory worker Elena told the BBC.

Like several people we spoke to, Elena did not vote for Calin Georgescu in the first round of presidential elections in November, which was later overturned. At that point, she had not heard of him.

But the controversy over the cancelled vote has propelled the far-right populist into the spotlight and increased his support.

Now the crowd want him reinstated as a candidate.

George Simion, an ally of Georgescu and the leader of the far-right opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), parliament’s second-largest party, said on Monday that Romania was in “the midst of a coup d’état”.

In a video on Sunday night, Simion called for “those who committed the coup to be skinned in public for what they did… Whether you like Calin Georgescu or not, he is the man Romanians voted for”.

The Romanian prosecutor general has opened a case against Simion for instigation of violence, and on Monday he rowed back on the comments, saying he was using a “metaphor”.

On 26 February, Georgescu was detained for questioning on his way to register as a candidate in the May election, prompting tens of thousands of Romanians to march on Bucharest’s streets in protest.

Georgescu – a fierce EU and Nato critic – came out of almost nowhere last year to lead the first round two weeks ago amid allegations of Russian interference. He has since seen some support from the Trump administration.

Last month, US Vice-President JD Vance accused Romania of annulling the elections based on the “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and pressure from its neighbours.

And Trump adviser Elon Musk posted on X, saying: “How can a judge end democracy in Romania?”

Calin Georgescu was picked up on his way to register as a candidate, and he was later charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, as well as membership of a neo-fascist organisation.

“Georgescu’s mentality is the same as the mentality of Trump,” said Lavinia approvingly, as she steered her three-year-old daughter’s pushchair through a sea of Romanian tricolour flags.

“He will listen to our opinion, just as we listen to him. We came here today for freedom, and democracy.”

On the day of Georgescu’s arrest came an unexpected twist.

Guns, grenade launchers, and gold bullion buried beneath the floorboards were found in raids on 47 properties by Romanian police targeting a network, allegedly run by a former French legionnaire and militia chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Horatiu Potra’s current whereabouts are unknown, but his alleged links to Georgescu have only added to the intrigue.

While Horatiu Potra has admitted to illegal possession of weapons, Georgescu has denied all wrongdoing.

In just three months, Romania has gone from a stable and loyal member of the European Union and Nato, to a country where a far-right, pro-Russia figure has come from almost nowhere to become favourite for the presidency.

Georgescu led the first round of last December’s election, but the run-off vote was then annulled after Romanian intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.

The election is being rerun on 4 and 18 May.

For Georgescu’s critics, photographs of the weapons cache are the ultimate proof of his danger to the republic.

For his supporters, they’re the latest bout of mud-slinging, the doomed attempt of a corrupt regime to resist inevitable, Trump-inspired change.

At the roadside, a lone busker played the same tune over and over again on an electric piano, as a sea of protesters passed by.

“We are talking about the freedom to choose our own president,” said Oana Eftimie, vice-president of the Patriotic Party of Romanians, another right-wing grouping.

One of the peculiarities of the Calin Georgescu phenomenon, is that he seems to have reached beyond existing nationalist parties like AUR, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, which won 18% and 63 seats in the House of Deputies in the Parliamentary elections on 1 December.

Some polls put him as high as 40%.

Georgescu has eclipsed both the firebrand AUR leader, George Simion, and the leader of SOS Romania, Diana Sosoaca.

Oana Eftimie dismisses the charges against Georgescu, and some of his backers, as reheated slanders:

“He was prosecuted for all that before, and the case was closed last year for lack of evidence. So he’s not a fascist, we’re not fascists, we’re just normal people wanting to be able to choose our leader, and exhausted with those that are in power now.”

In a quiet flat not far from the noisy marchers, Elena Calistru, president of Funky Citizens, a liberal-minded, non-governmental organisation, admits that the protesters’ anguish about a corrupt, complacent elite, has some basis in fact.

“But if you have a house and the roof is leaking. You don’t burn down the house. You fix the roof, right?

“Unfortunately for us though, the malaise that we see all over Europe, the lack of leadership, the lack of politicians capable of talking to the general public without trying to compete with the populists, is also present in Romania.”

As a loyal US ally, Romanian military analysts are holding their breath over the fate of substantial US military infrastructure in Romania, which includes 4,500 US personnel. “Dacian Spring”, a major Nato exercise scheduled for the spring, has been postponed until after the May elections.

Candidates have until 15 March to register their candidacy for the presidential elections. If the Romanian Constitutional Court rules that Georgescu cannot stand, because of the charges levelled against him, how will the Americans react?

US Vice-President JD Vance made an apparent criticism of Romania at the Munich Security Conference last month.

“If your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.”

“Now, the good news is that I happen to think your democracies are substantially less brittle than many people apparently fear”, added Vance.

Romanians on both sides of the political spectrum seem unconvinced.

Georgescu was stopped in traffic in the capital, Bucharest, on his way to register as a candidate for new elections in May, after last December’s second-round run-off was annulled by the constitutional court.

Prosecutors said one of the charges involved attempted “incitement to actions against the constitutional order”.

Two right-wing populist parties said they were mobilising their supporters to head for the prosecutor’s office, where Georgescu was taken for questioning.

Police were seen erecting barriers around the building and hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest.

Prosecutors said Georgescu was also being investigated for giving “false information, false statements” and for setting up an organisation with “fascist, racist or xenophobic characteristics” as well as forming an antisemitic organisation.

The severity of the indictment could jeopardise Georgescu’s bid to run in the presidential election on 4 and 18 May.

He has been placed under judicial control and told not to leave Romania, according to reports. As he left the prosecutor’s office, Georgescu told supporters he would continue to fight and that there was “no difference between the communist mentality and system [that collapsed in 1989] and now”.

The original presidential vote was cancelled before the second round last December, after the then president, Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence documents that suggested that hundreds of TikTok accounts had been activated backing Georgescu.

Romanian foreign intelligence said Russia had been behind the move, as well as thousands of cyber-attacks and other sabotage.

Iohannis had decided to stay in office until a successor was elected, but he resigned earlier this month ahead of an impeachment vote.

Opposition politicians had at the time accused Iohannis of an undemocratic move, and Georgescu’s communications team repeated the claim against prosecutors.

“Where is democracy now?” they posted on X on Wednesday, tagging President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and US Vice-President JD Vance.

Earlier this month, the US vice-president accused Romania of annulling the elections based on “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and 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.

Georgescu’s hopes of running for the presidency may end up at the constitutional court, which barred another far-right, pro-Russian candidate from running last year.

The decision to turn down Diana Sosoaca’s candidacy because of her views was widely criticised in Romania.

Romania is a vital part of Nato’s eastern flank as well as being a member of the European Union.

Calin Georgescu has been accused of being pro-Russian and he has praised Romania’s fascist and nationalist leaders from the last century as heroes.

He denied he was “Moscow’s man”, in a BBC interview last year, but referred to Vladimir Putin as a “patriot and a leader” while pointing out “I am not a fan”.

Meanwhile, Romanian police said they had carried out raids in several counties around the country, targeting 27 individuals as part of a criminal case relating to the creation of an organisation “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature”.

Investigations were also being conducted into false statements regarding the sources of election campaign funding, police said.

The statement made no mention of Georgescu himself and it was not clear if the raids were linked, however he said he was fighting a security system “that wants us in slavery”.

He is facing a second-round run-off in the elections on Sunday, where he will run against Elena Lasconi, a former TV presenter who is campaigning on a firmly pro-EU platform.

Georgescu, whose only election campaigning has been on social media, said he would make “the Romanian people” his priority.

But he denied that his surprise success so far was the result of a Russian-backed influence operation, saying he did not care about the “lies” of his country’s intelligence agencies as he was working with God and the people.

On Wednesday, in a highly unusual move, Romania’s outgoing president published declassified documents that detailed what was called a massive and “highly organised” campaign for Georgescu on TikTok co-ordinated by a “state actor”.

The papers included an intelligence assessment that Russia was carrying out hybrid attacks on Romania, which it sees as an “enemy state”.

The constitutional court is now being flooded with requests to look into the allegations of meddling with a view to possibly cancelling the election.

Prosecutors today announced they were opening a criminal investigation but there is no timeline on when that might conclude.

“They are afraid,” is how Georgescu brushed away evidence that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent pushing campaign content for him, breaking both Romanian election law and TikTok’s own rules.

He denied that he was “Moscow’s man”, referring derisively to Romania’s “un-intelligence agencies”.

“They can’t accept that the Romanian people finally said, ‘we want our life back, our country, our dignity’,” he said, portraying himself as battling against an unyielding establishment.

In a sometimes tetchy interview in which he praised Donald Trump and the Hungarian populist leader Viktor Orban, Georgescu referred to Vladimir Putin as a “patriot and a leader”.

He then added: “But I am not a fan.

“But when questioned about Russia’s war on Ukraine, he first asked, “Are you sure of that?”, appearing to deny the war’s very existence.

He then said Romania was interested only in pushing for peace on its border but refused to say that this should be on Kyiv’s terms.

When asked whether he agreed with standing by Ukraine, as the EU puts it, “for as long as it takes”, Georgescu said “No.” He said things would change.

“I agree just that I have to take care of my people. I don’t want to involve my people,” he replied, clarifying that Romania – an EU and Nato member – would provide no more military or political support for its neighbour.

“Zero. Everything stops. I have to take care just about my people. We have a lot of problems ourselves.”

It would be a dramatic change in position for Bucharest, and one that would be music to Russian ears.

The president in Romania has considerable power, including influence on areas such as foreign policy. He is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and appoints the prime minister.

Romania shares a long border with Ukraine and has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv since the full-scale invasion in 2022.It’s provided a Patriot missile defence system as well as financial support. It’s also become a key export route for Ukrainian grain, as Russian bombardments have crippled the work of ports there.

Under a Georgescu presidency, Romania would join Hungary and Slovakia as Russia-sympathisers on the eastern flank of Nato.

It would also be a serious dent to EU solidarity on Ukraine, just as it faces the prospect of assuming more responsibility for aiding Kyiv with Donald Trump back in the White House.

Georgescu underlined that he would keep Romania inside the EU and Nato, but that everything from now on would be “negotiated” and focus on his country’s interests.

He refused to say that Vladimir Putin’s Russia was a security threat for the West.

His endorsement of conspiracy theories has also sparked concerns, including denying the Covid pandemic and doubting that anyone ever landed on the Moon.

Romania is home to a giant Nato military base, close to the Black Sea, as well as a US missile defence facility.

Georgescu now describes himself as a university teacher, but has previously worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the UN.

He clearly does have supporters – his clean-living, Romania-first message has popular appeal, especially outside Bucharest.

But in the capital many people are worried about the direction their country may be taking.

This evening, protesters will gather in central Bucharest to call for Romania to remain closely allied with Europe.

When asked if he understood why they were scared, Georgescu shook his head: “That’s just propaganda.”