Romania’s hard-right populist leader on Sunday appeared on course to win more votes over his challengers, putting him on track to win the first round of a presidential election in a rerun of the original vote last year.
The polls showed George Simion with 30-33% votes, while the governing coalition’s candidate, Crin Antonescu, and Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, tied in second place at about 21-23%.
The candidate who secures the second spot in the presidential race then goes into a run off with Simion on May 18.
Exit poll data does not include the sizable vote of Romanians abroad, where Simion and Dan are popular.
“I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who chose to vote (for me) with the number one position on the ballot paper,” Simion said in a recorded message.
“It was an act of courage, trust and solidarity. I am grateful and assure them that their trust will not be betrayed.”
Simion opposes EU leadership
The original vote last year was canceled because of widespread concerns over Russian interference in favor of far-right Calin Georgescu, who has been placed under investigation and has been disbarred from running for office.
Georgescu ally, Simion, who is 38 years old, opposes military aid to neighboring Ukraine and is critical of European Union leadership.
Simion says he’s aligned with the US President Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement and appears to be riding a similar wave of popular anger in the European Union and NATO member country of Romania.
Why was the Romanian election annulled?
November’s vote, which saw far-right, pro-Russian outsider Calin Georgescu surprisingly come out on top in the first round, was annulled by Romania’s constitutional court which found irregularities in the financing and organization of the leading campaign.
Alleged electoral violations included the activation of thousands of previously inactive social media accounts to spread pro-Georgescu messaging as part of an “aggressive Russian hybrid attack,” which Moscow denies.
Romanian public prosecutors in February opened an investigation into Georgescu, who is banned from standing again in Sunday’s re-run.
Romanian election: who are the favorites?
While it is unlikely that any candidate will win a majority when polls close in the first round of voting, Georgescu ally George Simion from the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) is expected to progress to a second-round run-off on May 18.
Simion’s campaign is counting on support from disgruntled Georgescu voters concerned not only by high inflation and the increasing cost of living in the European Union country, but now also influenced by populist conspiracy theories regarding the cancelation of the original vote.
“The anti-establishment sentiment is not an anarchic movement; it is against the people who destroyed this country,” Simion told the Associated Press, claiming that Romania is “not a democratic state anymore.”
Simion has described his AUR party, which promotes “family, nation, faith and freedom,” as “perfectly aligned with the MAGA [Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’] movement” in the United States and has not ruled out appointing Georgescu as prime minister should he win.
Georgescu was present as Simion cast his own vote in the capital, Bucharest, on Sunday morning.
Who are Romania’s pro-western candidates?
According to local opinion polls, Simion’s main challengers appear to be incumbent Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan and Crin Antonescu of the current governing coalition.
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) in 2016, is running on a pro-EU “Honest Romania” ticket.
Acknowledging the issues facing Romanians, he says the eastern European country needs a president “who has the will and the ability to reform the system.”
Veteran centrist Antonescu, 65, also put the protection of Romania’s pro-western orientation at the center of his campaign, as has Elena Lasconi, who surprisingly came second to Georgescu in November’s original first round.
The decision to annul the election and ban Georgescu from the re-run was criticized by US Vice President JD Vance and US President Donald Trump’s advisor Elon Musk, as well as the Kremlin which has publicly supported Georgescu’s candidacy.
Does Romania support Ukraine?
Bucharest has supported Ukraine since the Russian invasion not only through the supply of military equipment but also via its Black Sea ports.
However, the arrival of flocks of Ukrainian refugees in Romania, many of whom moved to other EU countries, has prompted a right-wing populist backlash.
Presidential candidate Simion told Radio Europa in April: “Until we bring Romanian citizens out of poverty to an acceptable degree, I will no longer support other nations in Romania.”
Nevertheless, when US President Trump temporarily halted military aid to Ukraine in February, interim president Ilie Bolojan insisted: “NATO is our strongest defense pillar, and Romania remains a committed and reliable ally. We must step up investments to strengthen our defense capability.”
Edited by: Rana Taha and Zac Crellin
