Romania. Presidential Election: Far-Right Candidate George Simion Leads in First Round

The candidate has changed, but the far right remains in the lead: five months after the shock cancellation of the first round of the presidential election, Romania confirmed its nationalist turn in a new vote on Sunday. AUR party leader George Simion received around 40% of the vote after counting over 90% of the ballots. He is followed by two pro-European candidates, who are neck and neck with just over 20% of the vote.

The suspense is intense, as the gap is so narrow between the pro-European coalition candidate, Crin Antonescu, 65, and the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, 55, with his anti-corruption platform. Further behind (less than 15%), former social-democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta, despite a Trumpian-tinged speech, failed to deliver.

"Together we have written a page of history today," the winner reacted in a video message broadcast at his party headquarters in front of supporters chanting "Out with the thieves, long live the patriots."

Few voice reserves

However, he will "probably be defeated in the second round" on May 18 because he has few reserves of votes, comments political science professor Sergiu Miscoiu, predicting a close race. But other experts point to fractures in the anti-sovereignty pole after a campaign marked by virulent accusations and backstabbing.

Eleven candidates in total were vying for a largely ceremonial but influential foreign policy post in this EU member state of 19 million people, which has become a key pillar of NATO since the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The surprise victory in November of Calin Georgescu, a former senior official accused by his critics of being pro-Kremlin , had caused concern in the west of the continent and plunged Romania into political turmoil. The Constitutional Court invalidated the vote and excluded the sixty-year-old from this new race, after a massive campaign on TikTok tainted by suspicions of Russian interference . He was replaced by George Simion, 38, who had come fourth in the fall, and the two men appeared together on Sunday at a polling station in Mogosoaia, near Bucharest. After the cancellation, a rare decision within the EU, the election was under close surveillance.

"MAGA President"

During the campaign, George Simion brandished his youth, his sovereignist rhetoric, and his mastery of the TikTok platform in the hope of avenging his now-ally Georgescu. While the MP denies any pro-Russian leanings, he shares the same aversion to "Brussels bureaucrats" and opposes any military support for Kyiv. Whether at markets or abroad, to win over the large diaspora, this Donald Trump fan dreams of becoming a "MAGA president" (Make America Great Again), a slogan sometimes emblazoned on his caps.

If George Simion succeeds to the top job, he promised on Sunday to "bring Calin Georgescu to power," citing three options: "a referendum, early elections, or the formation of a coalition in Parliament that would appoint him prime minister."