Romania president resigns before election re-run

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday announced he would resign following pressure for him to step down ahead of the re-run of an election that was voided over allegations of Russian interference.

Pressure had been growing on pro-European Iohannis, leader of liberals who had said he would remain in office until his successor is elected in May.

Romania's top court decided to cancel the presidential elections in December amid allegations of Russian meddling and after a previously little-known, far-right candidate won a surprise first-round victory.

"In order to spare Romania and the Romanian citizens from crisis... I resign from the office of president of Romania," Iohannis said, adding that he would officially stand down on Wednesday.

MPs on Monday launched a procedure to suspend Iohannis, following two previous attempts by the opposition to start the process.

"In a few days, the Romanian Parliament will vote on my suspension and Romania will go into crisis.... This whole endeavour will have effects internally and unfortunately also externally," Iohannis said.

Far-right AUR party leader George Simion welcomed Iohannis's resignation.

"It's your (the people's) victory! Now it's time to get back round 2," Simion posted on Facebook.

Last month, tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets in several protests called by the far-right to protest the vote cancellation, with some demanding for Iohannis to resign.

The far right gained an unprecedented third of the votes in the December parliamentary elections

Senate president and liberal leader, Ilie Bolojan, is expected to replace Iohannis.

The decision -- rare in the EU -- plunged the eastern European country bordering war-torn Ukraine into crisis, with Georgescu denouncing the annulment as a "formalised coup d'etat".

A fresh first round of presidential elections will take place on May 4, with a second on ay 18 if no first-round candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote.

Iohannis, 65, has been Romania's president since 2014 navigating several political crises in the past.