Romanian far-right leader to face centrist mayor in presidential run-off
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Romanian presidential candidate George Simion (second from left) at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest on May 4.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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BUCHAREST – A Romanian ultra-nationalist aligned with Mr Donald Trump will head to a presidential run-off against the centrist mayor of Bucharest later in May after securing victory in a repeat election on May 4, the latest blow to the nation’s ruling establishment.
Mr George Simion of the ultra-nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) secured about 41 per cent of the vote, while independent Nicusor Dan won 21 per cent, Romania’s election authority said early on May 5, with almost all votes counted.
Former liberal party leader Crin Antonescu, who was backed by the ruling coalition, came in third and will miss out on the run-off, in a move that risks unsettling the current government led by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Even with a commanding win, polls have shown that a May 18 run-off is likely to be a close contest.
It will decide whether the Nato member state maintains the reliably transatlantic course it has pursued for the 3½ decades since the collapse of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime, or turns to anti-establishment forces that have challenged the European Union’s liberal order.
The vote was the second attempt to choose a president after the shock victory of a far-right fringe candidate in 2024 prompted accusations of Kremlin interference and the High Court’s cancellation of the ballot.
The unexpected first-round victory in November of Mr Calin Georgescu, who had been banned from running in the May 4 race, prompted Romania’s biggest political crisis since the fall of communism.
Still, Mr Simion’s result is significantly higher than what pre-election polls had indicated.
It also exceeds the combined number of votes that he and Mr Georgescu won in the first round of the cancelled ballot, a sign of growing voter exasperation with the latest turmoil.
Mr Simion attributed the turn against the establishment to lasting poverty that has driven millions of Romanians out of the country in search of work.
He said he also benefited from the current government’s lack of assertiveness in protecting Romania’s interests in the EU and beyond.
“One of the reasons why the government and the establishment are not supported here in Romania is the fact they didn’t have a strong enough voice inside the EU,” Mr Simion said in an interview in his office in Bucharest shortly before polls closed. “They did whatever the others wanted, the big powers wanted.”
But Mr Simion may face stiff competition from Mr Dan, a mathematician and activist who took over Romania’s capital of some two million in 2020.
Mr Dan’s edging out of Mr Antonescu was the second blow to the ruling parties, leaving the Ciolacu government in a more fragile position.
Mr Georgescu’s win in 2024 “was the first time that we have a critical mass saying clearly we want a change”, Mr Dan said in an interview in April.
Allegiance to Trump
Looming over the contest was US President Trump, whose administration took a keen interest in Romanian politics amid protests over the annulled vote.
An ultra-nationalist head of state, who would represent Romania at EU and Nato summits, could add to far-right forces across the EU tearing at the seams of the bloc’s liberal institutions.
Speaking to reporters earlier on May 4, Mr Simion said he was an adherent to Mr Trump’s movement and delivered a raft of accusations over alleged voting irregularities, including millions of dead people on voter rolls, and accused a number of broadcasters of spreading “lies”. He did not produce any evidence to back up his claims.
The country’s top court annulled the 2024 vote
The court decision, which Mr Simion called a “coup d’etat”, has come under fire from far-right groups as well as Trump allies.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance cited it as an example of democratic backsliding and alleged discrimination against far-right politicians in a speech to the Munich Security Conference in February.
Romanian presidential candidate Crin Antonescu waiting for the exit polls with supporters in Bucharest on May 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In a message published on the Facebook account of the US Embassy in Bucharest last week, Mr Vance was quoted urging Romania to ensure that “the voice of the people is heard as it’s the sacred foundation of democracy”.
Still, a senior US official, Federal Election Commission vice-chairman James “Trey” Trainor, warned of outside meddling in Romania’s democracy.
Part of a high-level delegation from Washington, Mr Trainor said on May 3 it was “very clear” that 2024’s contest was manipulated.
Mr Simion has said his AUR party counts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a European ally.
The far-right leader has vowed to end assistance to Ukraine, although – marking a contrast with Mr Georgescu, who has praised Mr Vladimir Putin – Mr Simion has denounced the Russian President as a war criminal.
Romania is the EU country that shares the longest land border with Ukraine and has helped facilitate millions of tonnes of grain exports from the war-battered nation through its Black Sea ports.
Romania’s president is not a figurehead akin to heads of state in other European countries.
Elected to a five-year term, the president represents the country at EU and Nato meetings and is commander-in-chief of the military, though the prime minister leads the country’s government.
“The results demonstrate the total failure of the political class to build a democratic culture in the country,” said political science professor Sergiu Miscoiu of Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, northern Romania.
“For the run-off, it is paramount that the democratic forces build a shield against the far right, though that is very complicated at the moment.” BLOOMBERG
