Thousands of Romanians rallied outside the country's top court on Friday to protest against the December cancellation of the presidential election in which a little-known pro-Russian candidate won the first round.

Thousands of flag-waving Romanians protested outside parliament on Friday against the annulment of presidential elections, where an obscure far-right candidate had been the front-runner amid claims of Russian interference.

Romanians took to the streets on Friday in support of fringe pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu, demanding the country’s top court reverse its decision to cancel a presidential ballot in which he was a frontrunner.

Romanian intelligence chiefs should be fired for creating an “ambiguous” report used by judges to annul the country’s general election results, a leading candidate has said.