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.

A top Romanian court has rejected an appeal by far-right politician Calin Georgescu to lift a ban on his candidacy in the presidential rerun.