Romania to hold new presidential elections in May

Romania's coalition government has approved 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 European Union and NATO state which borders Ukraine was plunged into institutional chaos last year when Calin Georgescu, a little-known right-wing, pro-Russian politician, won the first presidential round on Nov. 24.

Officials said Georgescu benefitted from a massive social media campaign spearheaded by TikTok, which gave him preferential treatment, accusations the platform has denied.

Amid suspicions of Russian interference — denied by Moscow — the country's top court annulled the ballot and ordered the government to rerun it in its entirety.

The European Commission last month opened formal proceedings against TikTok over its suspected failure to limit election interference, notably in the Romanian vote.

Social media platforms

On Thursday, the government issued a decree saying campaign materials will need to be clearly marked as election content and their sponsors identified.

Social media platforms must take down content which does not follow the rules within five hours of a request from Romanian election officials or risk fines of between 1 percent and 5 percent of their turnover.

However, it was unclear how potential fines could be issued against entities not registered in Romania.

Romanian rights groups criticised the government on Thursday for failing to consult the public before issuing the decree, warning the new rules did not address real campaign financing issues.