Draganesti, adorned with European flags and a stronghold of the Social Democratic Party, cast 37% of its votes on Sunday for the pro-Russian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential election.

A top Romanian court has asked the official electoral authority to recount and verify all of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election.

Responsibility for the rise of the far right lies primarily with nominally “left” forces, who have adapted to nationalism and supported NATO’s war with Russia in Ukraine.