Romanian nationalist candidate George Simion on Saturday said he was closing his Facebook and TikTok accounts “to respect the day of silence” ahead of Sunday’s tense presidential vote.

The election comes five months after Romania’s constitutional court annulled the presidential election in a shock move after allegations of Russian interference and a massive social media campaign in favour of that vote’s far-right frontrunner since barred from contesting.

In Sunday’s runoff round Simion — a US President Donald Trump fan who has vowed to put “Romania first” — faces pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan in what is expected to be a tight battle.

Simion on Saturday said he was taking his social media accounts, which have more than 1.5 million followers, offline.

“To respect the day of silence, I will close this social media account. The TikTok one is already closed… I ask everyone to do the same,” the 38-year-old posted on Facebook.

The announcement came after access to his TikTok was blocked, prompting supporters online to blame a “desperate system that is losing”.

Political scientist Sergiu Miscoiu described Simion’s move as a “smokescreen”.

“Through this manoeuver, Mr Simion is seeking to portray himself as a politician who respects democratic norms. In reality, there are thousands of fake accounts on TikTok and other social media that continue to spread propaganda in favour of George Simion,” Miscoiu told AFP.

Tens of thousands protested after the initial first-round presidential vote was annulled and the frontrunner in that vote, Calin Georgescu, also a hard nationalist, barred from running again.

Simion picked up many of Georgescu’s votes in the first-round rerun held earlier in May.

Sunday’s knock-out ballot  is closely watched abroad including in Brussels and Washington.

The post of Romanian president holds significant sway in foreign policy in the country, an EU and NATO member that borders war-torn Ukraine.

If Simion wins, Romania would join a small but increasing number of EU members with nationalist leaders critical of Brussels and keen to cut military aid to Ukraine.

ani-jza/rmb