Romania president resigns after vote cancellation

BUCHAREST — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced his resignation on Monday after a procedure to impeach him was launched and as anger boils over last year's cancelled presidential vote.

The country's top court pulled presidential elections slated for December after claims of Russian meddling and the first-round victory of a previously little-known, far-right candidate.

Pressure had been growing on pro-European Iohannis, who had said he would remain in office until his successor was elected at a new vote in May.

Lawmakers on Monday launched a procedure to impeach Iohannis, following two previous attempts by the opposition to start the process.

"In order to spare Romania and the Romanian citizens from crisis... I resign from the office of president of Romania," Iohannis said, adding that he would officially stand down on Wednesday.

"In a few days, the Romanian Parliament will vote on my suspension and Romania will go into crisis... This whole endeavour will have effects internally and unfortunately also externally," he added in his address.

He insisted he had "never violated the constitution".

'Victory'

Romania's far right welcomed Iohannis's resignation and hundreds of supporters gathered in Bucharest for a rally that saw clashes with police.

Calin Georgescu, who won the first round of presidential elections before the vote was annulled, said Iohannis's resignation was a "victory for the people of Romania".

"Now, it's time to return to 'rule of law' - resume 2nd round of elections!" he wrote on X.

The leader of the far-right AUR party, George Simion, also hailed what he said was the people's "victory".

Romania's far right gained an unprecedented third of the votes in December parliamentary elections due to mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Last month, tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets in a wave of protests called by the far right criticising the vote cancellation, with some demanding for Iohannis to resign.

Senate president and liberal leader Ilie Bolojan, 55, is expected to replace Iohannis.

Cancellations of elections are rare in the EU and the postponement plunged the eastern European country into crisis, with Georgescu denouncing the annulment as a "formalised coup d'etat".

A fresh first round of presidential elections will now take place on May 4, with a second on May 18 if no first-round candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote.

Iohannis, 65, has been Romania's president since 2014 and navigated several political crises in the past.

Romania's constitutional court cancelled the elections after intelligence documents declassified by the president's office listed "aggressive Russian hybrid actions", including cyberattacks.

The documents also detailed the massive promotion of Georgescu on social media in the run-up to the vote.

Georgescu — a past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a NATO critic who has recently reframed himself as "ultra pro" US President-elect Donald Trump — has denied any links to Moscow.