EU nation detains former presidential frontrunner

The Romanian fraud case against Calin Georgescu was first revealed just before his 2024 victory was annulled in an unprecedented move Romanian right-wing politician Calin Georgescu, who won the first round of the country’s 2024 presidential election before the result was controversially annulled, has been detained in connection with an alleged €1 million fraud scheme.Georgescu’s surprise win on an anti-NATO platform was met with accusations from Brussels and Bucharest of fake online campaigning. He was disqualified from running when a new vote was held, despite revelations that the suspected digital campaign in question was run by a party opposing him.Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said on Monday that it had detained a suspect and searched five properties linked to the case, with local media identifying Georgescu as the person of interest. His key ally George Simion described the latest case as a warning that “any of us can be next.” The investigation into the politician’s alleged involvement in fraud dating back to 2021 was first reported by Digi24 in December 2024. The alleged victim had filed a criminal complaint earlier tha...