The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Romania's far-right presidential candidate to overturn a domestic court decision to annul a December presidential election.

Europe's top rights court on Tuesday rejected Romanian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu's appeal against the annulment of the country's 2024 presidential election after he won the first round amid claims of Russian interference.

Călin Georgescu, the far-right candidate who emerged as the favourite at the first round of the annulled presidential election in December, is leading in an opinion poll based on him running in the vote rescheduled for May.

The unprecedented cancelation of Romania’s vote drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, including from Georgescu’s ideological foes. His would-be opponent in the now-canceled runoff, reformist candidate Elena Lasconi, said Romania’s democracy was being “trampled” by the state.

Romania's coalition government approved on Thursday a re-run of a two-round presidential election on May 4 and May 18 as previously agreed, and tightened campaign rules for big social media platforms including TikTok.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania rejected Călin Georgescu's appeal in the case regarding the annulment of the presidential election. The decision is final, Digi 24 reports. The court dismissed Georgescu's appeal as unfounded.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's ruling coalition agreed on Wednesday to rerun a two-round presidential election on May 4 and May 18 and stuck to an original plan to endorse a single candidate, the Liberal Party, one of the three coalition parties, said.

Călin Georgescu, an independent far-right candidate with pro-Russian sympathies, surprisingly won the first round of the presidential election on 24 November. In response, Romania's Constitutional Court decided to annul the first round of the presidential election and order a full rerun, preventing the run-off from taking place.