A political nuclear bomb defused: Romania on the verge of a state of emergency

The Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the elections and restart the entire electoral process is akin to defusing a nuclear bomb that threatened to obliterate Romanian democracy, already under attack by Russia. There were hardly any options left to avert a disaster of massive proportions. On Friday afternoon, relief swept across the nation—particularly in financial markets and among international partners. Romania was teetering on the edge of political and economic catastrophe.

This time, the annulment of the elections is hard to classify as an abuse of power, given Romania’s extraordinary circumstances. While the Constitutional Court has committed significant overreaches in the past, this situation is entirely different.

Declassified documents from the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) and Romania’s foreign partners reveal that the country was targeted by Russia during the electoral process with hybrid warfare tactics designed to influence the election results. The full scale of the attack and all actors involved, both external and internal, remain unclear.

Even Romania’s intelligence services likely haven’t yet gathered all the relevant information. Just a few days ago, they barely seemed to grasp the situation.

The Constitution does not provide clear guidelines for addressing a scenario where all state institutions are caught off guard by an aggression of this nature.

The installation of an anti-Western president, amid a professionally orchestrated campaign of disinformation and manipulation, posed an intolerable risk for Romania.

It is challenging to explain why the same Constitutional Court validated the first round of elections on Monday, only to annul the entire process four days later. Why did it take so long to declassify the CSAT documents? Why did state institutions fumble so severely—were there complicit actors, traitors, or simply gross incompetence at the highest levels? These are legitimate questions, but for now, we must acknowledge that Romania narrowly avoided disaster.

At this moment, avoiding an escalation of social tensions and calming a society shaken and confused by the avalanche of events and manipulations must be the priority. Like any experienced predator, Russia thrives in chaos. The immediate goal is to prevent potential social conflict and violent, anarchic protests.

For this reason, it is possible that President Klaus Iohannis (Romanian President) may declare a state of emergency this evening. Under emergency conditions, certain civil rights, including the right to protest, can be restricted. Politics may take a back seat for a while.

During a state of emergency, elections cannot be held. It is unlikely that new elections can be organized before the spring of this year. Until then, the Romanian state, with support from its international partners, must secure the vulnerabilities that allowed Russia to penetrate so deeply into its core.

The state’s top priority now must be a comprehensive investigation. All those responsible for pushing Romania to the brink must swiftly face justice. Only after understanding what happened in the first round of presidential elections on November 24—how much was Russian interference and how much was internal betrayal—can Romania move forward with restarting the electoral process from scratch.