Simion set to secure decisive win in first round of Romania’s presidential rerun

Hard-right nationalist George Simion is set to secure a decisive win in the first round of Romania’s presidential election redo, incomplete electoral data indicates, months after an annulled vote plunged the European Union and Nato member country into its worst political crisis in decades.

Mr Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), is far outpacing all other candidates in the polls with 40.1% of the vote, official electoral data shows after 90% of votes were counted.

Far behind in second place is the governing coalition’s joint candidate, Crin Antonescu, with 21.1%, and in third place is Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan with 19.4% — but that gap is widely expected to narrow as votes from larger cities are counted.

Eleven candidates vied for the presidency and a run-off will be held on May 18 between the top two candidates. By the time polls closed, about 9.57 million people — or 53.2% of eligible voters — had cast their ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau, with 973,000 votes cast at polling stations set up in other countries.

The rerun was held after Romania’s political landscape was shaken last year when a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.

In a prerecorded speech aired after polls closed, Mr Simion said that despite many obstacles, Romanians “have risen up” and “we are approaching an exceptional result”.

“I am here to restore constitutional order,” he said. “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 centre of decision-making the ordinary, honest, dignified people.”

As in many EU countries, anti-establishment sentiment is running high in Romania, fuelled by high inflation and the cost of living, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures such as Mr Georgescu, who is under investigation and barred from the rerun.

Mr Georgescu, who appeared alongside Mr Simion at a polling station on Sunday in the capital, Bucharest, called the vote rerun “a fraud orchestrated by those who have made deceit the only state policy”, but said he was there to “acknowledge the power of democracy, the power of the vote that frightens the system, that terrifies the system”.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy.

Mr 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 “Honest Romania” ticket.

“It is about the trust of Romanians and our partners in democracy… and in my opinion, it is a new beginning that we all have a responsibility to do correctly,” he said after the polls closed.

Mr Antonescu, 65, a veteran centrist who campaigned on retaining Romania’s pro-western orientation, said on Sunday that he voted for “a united Romania, for a strong Romania, for a dignified Romania”.

“Democracy means a battle, sometimes taken to the maximum, but it is a battle of ideas,” he said after voting had closed. “Let’s not forget that we are fellow citizens, sons of the same country, and we must move forward together.”

Victor Ponta, who was prime minister from 2012-2015, also pushed a Maga-style “Romania First” campaign and boasted of having close ties to the Trump administration, stands in fourth place with 14.3% of the vote.

Elena Lasconi, who came second in last year’s first round ballot and participated in the rerun, only obtained about 2.6% of the vote. She positioned herself as a staunchly pro-western, anti-system candidate, railing against what she described as a corrupt political class.

Distrust in the authorities remains widespread, especially for those who voted for Mr Georgescu, a sizeable electorate that Mr Simion has sought to tap into.

“The anti-establishment sentiment is not like an anarchic movement, but is against the people who destroyed this country,” Mr Simion, who came fourth in last year’s race and later backed Mr Georgescu, told the Associated Press days before the rerun. “We are not a democratic state anymore.”

The election redo is a crossroads moment for Romania as it seeks to restore its democracy and retain its geopolitical alliances, which have become strained since the cancelled election fiasco.

The decision to annul the election and the ban on Mr Georgescu’s candidacy drew criticism from US vice president JD Vance, Elon Musk and Russia, which publicly supported his candidacy in the rerun.