Romania accuses Israel of election meddling

Romania has accused a minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of interfering in its elections after the minister made a phone call to a pro-Nazi candidate, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Romanian authorities allege that Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, intervened in the country’s elections following his public phone conversation last week with far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu. Georgescu has a long history of glorifying Romanian leaders who collaborated with the Nazis.

The newspaper reported that the conversation between Chikli and Georgescu was widely circulated by far-right media outlets in Romania and internationally. It noted that Georgescu had previously praised the anti-Semitic Iron Guard, infamous for its violent persecution of Jews.

Romania held parliamentary elections yesterday, just a week after Georgescu’s shocking victory in the first round of the presidential election, which sent ripples throughout the country and beyond.

Polling stations have opened their doors to millions of voters eager to participate in the crucial parliamentary election. Romanian citizens are set to elect members of the 466 seat parliament.

Romanian expatriates began voting on Saturday, and by 11am local time yesterday, 2.2 million people had cast their ballots, representing 12.5 per cent of total eligible voters, according to the country’s election commission.

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