Bucharest

Romania's constitutional court on Thursday ordered a recount of votes cast in the first round of the presidential election after allegations that social media platform TikTok gave "preferential treatment" to the surprise winner, Calin Georgescu.

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But the social media platform denied the allegations saying, "It is categorically false to claim his account was treated differently to any other candidate," in a statement.

One far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, secured an unexpected lead in the vote on Sunday, knocking out Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

He mainly campaigned on TikTok for the presidential election as does not have any party of his own. 

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But a rival, EU parliament member Cristian Terhes, challenged the result, accusing another candidate of irregularities.

In response, the court unanimously ordered a "recheck and recount of all ballots... in the elections for the office of president of Romania on November 24," it said in a statement.

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The ruling comes days before Romania holds high-stakes parliamentary elections on Sunday, with the presidential runoff to follow on December 8, amid fears they could herald a shift in its foreign policy.

Terhes has accused the centrist Union Save Romania (USR) party of small-town mayor Elena Lasconi of continuing to campaign online after the legal deadline and asked the court to have the first round of the vote annulled.

Lasconi came second in the ballot, just ahead of Ciolacu who got eliminated from the race.

The constitutional court is due to reconvene on Friday at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).

The court meanwhile rejected a separate request by another presidential candidate, Sebastian Popescu, to annul the first round of the vote, ruling that the demand came too late.

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Georgescu's first-round win sent shock waves across the NATO member country of 19 million people.

Romanian voters had previously resisted nationalist parties, setting the country apart from neighbours Hungary and Slovakia.

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