Romanian authorities took mercenary leader Horațiu Potra into custody Thursday on charges of attempting to subvert the constitutional order, following allegations he had helped plan a violent coup during last December’s fraught election period. Potra was extradited from Dubai, where he had been detained since Sept. 24 alongside his son Dorian and grandson amid an investigation of a plot to use force to install former ultranationalist presidential candidate Călin Georgescu in power. “Romanian citizens Horațiu Potra, Alexandru Cosmin Potra and Dorian Potra have been brought onto national territory following the successful completion of the extradition procedure,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement. Prosecutors formally charged Georgescu, Horațiu and Dorian and a group of alleged mercenaries on Sept. 16, accusing them of having planned to hijack a protest supporting Georgescu after the December 2024 cancellation of the first round of the presidential election. The official stated the armed group had intended to provoke large-scale violence, which in turn would have justified overthrowing Romania’s constitutional order and transferring political power by force. Georgescu, a NATO skeptic, had won the first round of the election in November 2024, but the Constitutional Court later annulled the contest over alleged irregularities and concerns of foreign interference. He was later barred from the May rerun amid further allegations of Russian involvement. Horațiu Potra, 55, a dual Romanian-French national, spent five years in the French Foreign Legion, an elite military unit of the French army. He later served as a bodyguard to Qatar’s royal family before spending nearly three decades in Africa as a private security operative for political leaders and business figures. He met Georgescu at a horse ranch last December, after Georgescu asked him for “support” in the upcoming presidential election. According to prosecutors, Georgescu and Potra met on Dec. 7, 2024, a day after the court annulled the election, to finalize their plans for the violent coup. On Dec. 8, Potra was arrested en route to Bucharest in a five-car convoy allegedly transporting armed men who intended to incite riots. Georgescu and Potra have dismissed the allegations against them, while their supporters see the charges as politically motivated. “Better to break the law and live than to obey the law and die,” Potra said in an interview with the Georgescu-friendly TV channel Realitatea Plus after he was indicted. 

Romanian authorities confirmed to POLITICO on Wednesday that mercenary Horațiu Potra and his son Dorian Potra have been detained in Dubai. The two, along with ultranationalist presidential candidate Călin Georgescu and a group of alleged mercenaries, face trial charged with an attempted coup late last year. During a December 2024 police operation, Romanian officers intercepted 21 individuals, some armed with knives and guns, en route to Bucharest. On Sept. 16, Romanian prosecutors charged Georgescu, Potra, his son and other mercenaries with orchestrating a violent coup. According to Romanian prosecutors, Potra, Georgescu and their associates had allegedly planned to hijack a protest in support of the former presidential candidate and generate violence amid the cancellation of the first round of the presidential election. Officials stated that the armed group sought to provoke clashes and carry out “violent actions of a subversive nature,” threatening national security and the “constitutional order.” Georgescu, a NATO skeptic, won the first round of Romania’s November presidential election — with the election subsequently canceled due to alleged irregularities and concerns over foreign interference. He was later disqualified from the May rerun amid further allegations of Russian involvement. Romanian officials also warned that Moscow conducted extensive hybrid operations, including cyberattacks and disinformation, aimed at disrupting the 2024 election.

Former Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu was indicted on Wednesday for endorsing fascist propaganda, according to a press release from a prosecution office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Prosecutors allege that between June 16, 2020 and May 16, 2025, Georgescu repeatedly endorsed fascist ideas through a series of interviews, online posts and public speeches. He is also accused of glorifying extremist historical figures such as Marshal Ion Antonescu — the leader of Romania’s World War II fascist government and a convicted war criminal — and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of Romania’s interwar Iron Guard, a fascist paramilitary group. If convicted, Georgescu faces between three months and three years in prison, or possibly longer due to the continuous nature of the alleged offenses. The case, filed with the Sector 1 Court in Bucharest, addresses only the charge of “legionary propaganda” related to Romania’s National Legionary State, which ruled the country for five months from 1940 to 1941. But Georgescu remains under investigation for other serious offenses including allegedly attempting to overthrow the constitutional order. A hard-line ultranationalist and a vocal opponent of the EU and NATO, Georgescu surged to prominence during Romania’s November 2024 presidential election in which he won 22.9 percent of the vote in the first round. The country’s Constitutional Court later annulled the results, citing credible evidence of foreign interference — including alleged Russian-backed influence operations and a coordinated disinformation campaign on TikTok. The election was subsequently rescheduled for May but Georgescu was barred from running again and announced he was stepping away from politics.