Romania's top court annulled an ongoing presidential election after accusations of Russian meddling and ruled on Friday the entire process, which had been due to conclude this weekend, would have to be re-run.

Axar.az reports that citing Reuters, the second round had been scheduled for Sunday and voting has already begun in polling stations abroad. It would have pitted Calin Georgescu, a far-right, pro-Russian candidate, against pro-European Union centrist leader Elena Lasconi.

"The electoral process to elect Romania's president will be fully re-run, and the government will set a new date and calendar for the necessary steps," the court said in a statement.

Georgescu scored single-digit numbers in opinion polls before the first round vote on Nov. 24 but then surged to a first-place finish that raised questions over the result.

Georgescu wants to end Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion. If he won the presidency, it would upend the pro-Western politics of the EU and NATO member, pushing Romania closer to a belt of states in central and eastern Europe that have powerful populist, Russia-friendly politicians, including Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. Friday's court ruling plunged the country into institutional chaos.

Current President Klaus Iohannis's term ends on Dec. 21, but he said in a televised address that he would stay in his post until a successor is elected, meaning he will nominate a prime minister following a Dec. 1 parliamentary ballot.