The second round pits George Simion, a right-wing critic of the EU, against Nicusor Dan, the pro-EU mayor of Bucharest.
Romanians voted again on Sunday, May 18, in a rerun of the presidential election’s second round, after the previous vote was annulled by the court last year. The contenders are George Simion, who opposes Brussels and is banned from Ukraine, and Nicusor Dan, Bucharest’s pro-EU mayor.
Around 19,000 polling places were open across Romania for the election’s second round. Voting started at 7 a.m. local time (4 a.m. GMT) and was scheduled to conclude at 9 p.m., with exit polls anticipated shortly thereafter.
George Simion, leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), led the first round earlier in the month with 40.96% of the vote, almost 20 percentage points ahead of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. However, recent surveys indicate a closer contest, with one indicating a tie and another giving Dan a slight advantage.
Dan, an independent candidate with a Sorbonne education in mathematics, entered politics after years of advocacy. He has promised to combat corruption, narrow the wealth gap, and maintain close ties with the EU and NATO. He also asserts that Romania’s backing of Ukraine is crucial to its national security.
Simion is against EU bureaucracy and policies mandated by Brussels, which he has called a “greedy and corrupt bubble.” He advocates for what he describes as a “Europe of sovereign nations” and has presented himself as a champion of “traditional values,” as opposed to “globalist ideologies.” According to Politico, he has stated that his alliance is “Eurorealist, not Euroskeptic,” denying that he is anti-European.
Although Simion claims not to be pro-Russian, he is against sending weapons to Ukraine and has urged for a negotiated resolution to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. He has also expressed admiration for US President Donald Trump, referring to him as “a symbol of freedom,” and has stated that he would undo what he sees as an “anti-American shift in Europe.”
The election is a consequence of the annulment of the prior vote, in which independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu received the most votes in the first round with 23%. Romania’s Constitutional Court reversed the results, citing irregularities and accusations of foreign interference, including campaign activity on TikTok and alleged Russian “hybrid” influence. Moscow has refuted any involvement.
The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) later prevented Georgescu from running again, citing his purported “anti-democratic” and “extremist” views, as well as procedural violations. The court supported the BEC’s ruling.
Simion has publicly backed Georgescu, appearing with him at a polling place on Sunday. He had previously stated that if elected, he might appoint him as prime minister.
Simion claimed on the eve of the vote that voter manipulation was occurring in Moldova, where a sizable number of Romanian citizens cast their ballots. He also shut down his TikTok and Facebook accounts in order to comply with election silence regulations.
Following Simion’s impressive performance in the first round, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned and declared the Social Democratic Party’s departure from the ruling coalition, claiming that the bloc no longer had political legitimacy. The PSD has stated that it will not support either candidate in the runoff.
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