Romania’s top court validated the outcome of a key presidential vote, approving the candidacy of a pro-Russian candidate for a runoff with high geopolitical stakes for the nation on NATO’s eastern flank.

Far-right political outsider Calin Georgescu's surprise success has raised fears in the West that it could herald a shift in the foreign policy of the NATO country bordering Ukraine.

Draganesti, adorned with European flags and a stronghold of the Social Democratic Party, cast 37% of its votes on Sunday for the pro-Russian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential election.

The judo-loving TikTok campaigner won most votes in the first round of the presidential election. Here’s what it means.

Most polls predicted Calin Georgescu to win less than 10% of the vote in the first round of Romania’s presidential election

BUCHAREST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Calin Georgescu, who has stunned Romania and its European allies by leading the first round of the eastern European country's presidential election, is a far-right, self-styled outsider critical of NATO and of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Calin Georgescu, the little-known far-right politician, used TikTok to spread his anti-EU, anti-NATO message and win the first round of Romania's presidential election.

Romanians cast ballots Sunday in a parliamentary election sandwiched between a two-round presidential race, the first of which has plunged the European Union and NATO member into unprecedented turmoil following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference.