Former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta joined the race for May's presidential election re-run on Wednesday as the hard right worked to ensure they had a candidate in the contest after the ban on pro-Russian Calin Georgescu threw the vote wide open.

Romanian far-right populist Calin Georgescu has appealed the decision to bar him from running in the country's presidential election rerun.

Chaos broke out in Romania’s capital as supporters of the far-right populist Calin Georgescu protested the electoral body’s decision to reject his candidacy in a presidential election redo