It's not often that the country of Romania makes the headlines, but that's changing in a big way this week after a major decision was made regarding the country's upcoming presidential election.

According to CNN, violence and chaos have erupted across the country over the bombshell decision that barred the far-right presidential frontrunner from the upcoming presidential contest.

Vice President J.D. Vance had commented on the possibility of that happening at the recent Munich Security Conference.

The decision, which has already sparked outrage and protests in the streets of Bucharest, came despite warnings from America and the West for the country's leadership to listen to the desires of the voters.

What's going on?

The country stunned voters with its decision this week to ban conservative candidate Calin Georgescu's candidacy. The reason given made the situation even worse.

The country's top election bureau cited the candidate's alleged "failure to comply with the electoral regulations" for its reasoning in invalidating his candidacy, which did not sit well with many of Romania's voters.

CNN noted:

The decision came just over a week after Romanian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Georgescu, accusing him of crimes such as attempting to subvert the constitutional order and establishing a fascist organization.

While his supporters took to the streets of the country's capital city, the candidate said the decision was "a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide."

CNN added:

Despite being virtually unknown before Romania’s annulled presidential election last year, Georgescu – a 62-year-old former soil scientist who opposes aid to Ukraine and has expressed sympathy for Romania’s fascist leaders from the 20th century – has won widespread support in the Eastern European country and become a cause célèbre on the American right.

Russia interference was one of the reasons cited for the investigations -- something that President Donald Trump can definitely relate to.

Vance's warning

Vice President Vance, at the Munich Security Conference in February, said the country's decision to cancel the election "based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency" was evidence of Europe’s "threat from within."

"If your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with,” Vance said at the time.

Many high-profile politicians and leaders in the West have criticized the decision, including Elon Musk.

"This is crazy," Musk wrote in response to the situation.