Calin Georgescu previously challenged the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the vote amid allegations of Russian interference before the Romanian Court of Appeals, and his efforts were rejected on 31 December.
Georgescu's lawyer has since told local publication HotNews that he now wants to take the case to the ECHR, arguing that such an escalation is now necessary to protect the country's democracy.
"The action at the ECHR is a natural and absolutely necessary step to protect the fundamental rights of Mr. Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate, and all Romanian citizens who deserve a fair and transparent electoral process. We will continue to use all the legal and constitutional tools at our disposal, both domestically and internationally, to protect the rights of Mr. Calin Giurgescu and the voices of Romanians," said his lawyer Maria Vassilij.
According to Georgescu's team, the decision to annul the elections caused "irreparable harm" to the human rights of Romanians.
The populist candidate said he planned to ask the court to force the Romanian authorities to recognise the legitimacy of the presidential elections and to make the country "adopt measures to remove moral and democratic prejudices by restoring confidence in the electoral process".
"Given the electoral vacuum created by the suspension of the electoral process, the crisis of political legitimacy and the growing social protests, the impact on the fundamental rights of voters and candidates, I request that the case be dealt with expeditiously and that urgent interim measures be taken to prevent further harm," the document sent by Georgescu to the court said.
The decision to ignore the results of the November 2024 election because of the alleged Russian campaign to interfere in TikTok was noted by many major political groups in Western Europe, with news outlets labelling the vote as "dubious" or even "rigged".
Some on the right have described the annulment as an attempted self-coup by the forces at work in the Romanian state.
"We are facing a coup d'état against the will of the people," George Simion, leader of the populist right-wing AUR party, said earlier. | BGNES
