http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/deace2142b1154ed https://verfassungsblog.de/romanian-militant-democracy-and-the-time-machine/ Romanian Militant Democracy and the Time Machine Iancu, Bogdan eng 2025-03-13 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Călin Georgescu Election Invalidation Militant Democracy Rule of Law Rumänien Time Machine romania Rumänien Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 Romania was recently rocked by the annulment of presidential elections in December 2024, a crisis stifled by the March 2025 invalidation of Georgescu’s candidacy in do-over elections. Mr. Georgescu, an ultranationalist firebrand, presents himself in a MAGA-style as the tribune of “the People” and a warrior against a “Soros-driven” elite conspiracy. Europhile opponents present the invalidations as valiant examples of militant democracy and rule of law in action. I argue that the story is both simpler and more complex, partly a local variant of “authoritarian liberalism”, partly an example of idiosyncratic Eastern traditions of the RoL in Euro-friendly attire.