BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — After decisively winning the most votes in Romania’s first-round presidential election redo, hard-right nationalist George Simion will face a pro-Western reformist in a pivotal runoff in two weeks that could reshape the European Union and NATO member country’s geopolitical direction.
Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, far outpaced all other candidates in the polls with 40.96% of the vote, according to official electoral data, after all votes were counted from Sunday’s election. In second place was reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan with 20.99%.
The runoff will be held on May 18 between the two staunchly anti-establishment candidates but ideological opposites, who have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) in 2016, ran on a pro-EU ticket, told the media early Monday that “a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate.”
“This was a democratic process that Romania needed … this won’t be a debate between individuals, it will be a debate between a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western one,” he said. “I call on all Romanians to be part of this battle, and I am optimistic that we will win.”
In third place was the governing coalition’s joint candidate, Crin Antonescu, with 20.07%, and behind him Victor Ponta, a former prime minister from 2012-2015, with 13% of the vote, while Elena Lasconi, who came second in last year’s first round ballot, only obtained about 2.6%.
Final turnout stood at 9.57 million people — or 53.2% of eligible voters, according to data from the electoral authorities.
Last year’s election was annulled after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
The election redo took place months after an annulled vote plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Simion, who came fourth in last year’s race and later backed Georgescu, said in a pre-recorded speech aired after polls closed Sunday that, “I am here to restore constitutional order. ”
“I want democracy, I want normalcy, and I have a single objective: to give back to the Romanian people what was taken from them and to place at the center of decision-making the ordinary, honest, dignified people,” he said.
After her poor showing in Sunday’s vote, Lasconi announced her resignation on Monday as leader of the USR party, saying, “I fought with all my strength against a rotten, corrupt system that has kept us captive for 35 years.”
“Our efforts must be directed toward supporting a pro-European path and accelerating the transformation of a system that has proven dysfunctional and not in the citizens’ interest,” she said.
The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy.
Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, said Sunday’s outcome will likely trigger a “crisis” within the mainstream parties, and the runoff will pit pro-Western ideas against “more conservative, patriotic messaging.”
“We’ll have two anti-establishment candidates, one that is anti-establishment with a more conservative view of how Romania should advance, and a pro-Western anti-establishment,” he told The Associated Press. “This is the most important thing to say: that it will be like a total anti-establishment movement on both sides of the road.”
In a speech conceding defeat, the governing coalition’s candidate, Antonescu, distanced himself and did not endorse either candidate in the runoff, saying, “I was not part of the coalition.”
“I presented a program, some ideas, and some people voted for me. I urge them to decide for themselves which of the remaining candidates best aligns with the ideas I put forward,” he said. “I encourage everyone who voted for me today to show up and vote.”
Distrust in the authorities remains widespread, especially for those who voted for Georgescu, a sizable electorate that Simion has sought to tap into.
Simion said that his hard-right nationalist AUR party is “perfectly aligned with the MAGA movement,” capitalizing on a growing wave of populism in Europe after U.S. President Donald Trump’s political comeback. AUR rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election, proclaims to stand for “family, nation, faith, and freedom,” and has since doubled its support.
“The antiestablishment sentiment is not like an anarchic movement, but is against the people who destroyed this country,” Simion told the AP days before the rerun. “We are not a democratic state anymore.”
