Romania’s top court ordered a recount after a little-known ultranationalist candidate scored a surprise victory in Sunday’s presidential election, as a security panel said the contest was affected by a cyber operation aimed at influencing the outcome.

A recount of the votes cast in Sunday's first round of presidential elections in Romania has been ordered by the country's top court following allegations that social media platform TikTok gave "preferential treatment" to the surprise winner,

Barely known a year ago, far-right candidate Calin Georgescu successfully dominated social network TikTok to emerge the shock winner of Romania's first-round presidential election -- an online campaign that has raised suspicions.