Nationalist candidate George Simion won the first round of Romania’s presidential election with some 40% of the vote, according to the preliminary results on Sunday.
With 82% of votes counted, the race for second place — which will take the candidate to the runoff to face off against Simion in two weeks’ time — between two pro-West coalition candidates, Crin Antonescu (21%) and the independent Nicușor Dan (18%), remains too close to call.
Also, parts of Romania’s diaspora showed strong support for Simion: 77% of Romanians voting in Italy and 80% of those in Spain backed the AUR party leader on Sunday, preliminary results show.
The pre-election polls all pointed to Simion as the winner of the first round. However, the score of independent candidate Dan, the mayor of Bucharest and an outsider, surprised and sent a clear message to the government coalition, which got together to nominate Crin Antonescu as the main party’s candidate.
Romania faces a tough battle for the second round in two weeks, having to choose between an inward, nationalist candidate and a pro-EU and pro-NATO one.
After the initial exit polls showed Simion in the lead on Sunday, most party leaders and candidates announced they would wait for the final results. However, Simion had already declared a “victory for Romania’s dignity” and called for vigilance in counting the votes to prevent fraud.
He broke away from the traditional on-stage appearance next to other party leaders and supporters, opting for a Georgescu-style statement alone at a desk.
“Today, the Romanian people have voted, the Romanian people have spoken. This is a victory of Romanian dignity, the victory of those who haven’t lost hope, of those who still believe in Romania, in a free, respected, sovereign country,” Simion said on Sunday evening.
Simion has been riding an anti-establishment wave, fuelled by ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, the ex-presidential candidate whose victory in the cancelled elections in December 2024 has thrown Romania into unprecedented turmoil.
Simion, whose popularity has steadily risen in recent years, is a vocal critic of the EU, particularly its continued support of Ukraine. He also has a standing ban on entry to Ukraine and Moldova.
Judging by the exit polls, Romanians have chosen to vote for individuals, and not political parties, pointing to the failure of the big tent coalition — which included the centre-left PSD, liberal party PNL and the Hungarian minority party UDMR/RMDSZ — to inspire its voters.
According to Euronews Romania sources, the liberals have accused the PSD of not mobilising their voters across the country, especially in rural areas, to throw their weight behind the coalition candidate, Antonescu.
However, exit polls in Romania have been unreliable in the past, and the official results might paint a different picture, particularly because of the diaspora vote, which has the power to turn the tide.
Some 53% of Romanians went to the polls on Sunday, according to official figures, indicating higher mobilisation than in the annulled vote in December.
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