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Far-right
Trump fan wins first round of Romania’s rerun presidential election, partial
count suggests
George
Simion of AUR party opposes military aid to Ukraine, has vilified EU leaders
and will face a centrist in run-off vote
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
Sun 4 May
2025 20.58 CEST
An
ultranationalist who opposes military aid to Ukraine, has vilified the EU’s
leaders, and calls himself Donald Trump’s “natural ally” has won the first
round of Romania’s rerun presidential vote and will face a centrist in the
run-off, a partial count suggests.
With more
than 80% of votes counted on Sunday, George Simion, whose far-right Alliance
for the Union of Romanians (AUR) began as an anti-vax movement during the
pandemic, was comfortably in the lead on a projected 40.5% of the vote.
In second
place was Crin Antonescu, a pro-European former senator, on 21.3%, with Nicușor
Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, in third on 18.6%, followed by the nationalist
former prime minister Victor Ponta on 14.6%.
The two
highest-scoring candidates are scheduled to face each other in a second-round
run-off on 18 May, nearly six months after the original ballot was cancelled
amid evidence of an alleged “massive” Russian influence campaign.
After the
exit pools were published, Simion said: “This is not just an electoral victory,
it is a victory of Romanian dignity. It is the victory of those who have not
lost hope, of those who still believe in Romania, a free, respected, sovereign
country.”
Final
results are not expected until early on Monday, with votes from Romania’s large
diaspora – which accounts for up to 10% of all ballots cast – likely to improve
Dan’s score, experts said.
Polls are
not highly reliable in Romania but several have suggested Simion could beat Dan
in a runoff, but would face a harder race against Antonescu, who has been out
of politics for a decade but is a well-known figure.
A far-right
victory could lead to Romania – which shares a border with Ukraine and is a
member of the EU and Nato – veering from its present pro-western path and
becoming another disruptive force within the bloc and the transatlantic defence
alliance.
It would
also be welcomed by conservative nationalists in Europe and beyond, including
senior Trump administration figures such as the US vice-president, JD Vance,
who accused Bucharest of denying democracy after the original ballot was
cancelled.
That vote
was won by Călin Georgescu, a far-right, Moscow-friendly independent who
declared zero campaign spending. It was annulled by Romania’s top court after
declassified intelligence documents revealed an alleged Russian influence
operation.
In February,
Georgescu, who denies any wrongdoing, was placed under investigation on counts
including misreporting campaign finances, misuse of digital technology and
promoting fascist groups. In March, he was barred from standing in the rerun.
Romania’s
president has a semi-executive role with considerable powers over foreign
policy, national security, defence spending and judicial appointments. They
also represent the country on the international stage and can veto important EU
votes.
Anti-establishment
sentiment is running high in Romania, where median household income is
one-third of the EU average. More than 30% of the country’s 19 million people
are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and nearly 20% of the workforce is
working abroad.
Casting his
ballot alongside Georgescu in Bucharest on Sunday, Simion, 38, said the pair
had “one mission only: the return to constitutional order, the return to
democracy. I have no other goal than first place for the Romanian people.”
Georgescu,
63, called the vote rerun “a fraud orchestrated by those who have made deceit
the only state policy”, but said he was voting to “acknowledge the power of
democracy, the power of the vote that frightens the system, that terrifies the
system”.
Dan, a
55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the
Save Romania Union party (USR), is running on an independent, pro-EU “Honest
Romania” ticket. He said he voted “for hope and a new beginning” for Romania.
Antonescu,
65, whose presidential run is backed by the ruling Social Democratic party
(PSD) and the centre-right National Liberal party (PNL), said he was voting for
“a united Romania, for a strong Romania, for a dignified Romania”.
Simion has
described himself as “more moderate” than Georgescu but has repeatedly insisted
on Romania’s “sovereignty”, and called for the country’s pre-second world war
borders to be restored by Moldova and Ukraine, from both of which he is banned.
In contrast
to Georgescu, Simion has frequently denounced Russia, while lashing out at
Brussels and praising Trump’s Republicans in the US. He has said he aims to set
up an alliance of countries within the EU “in the spirit of Maga”.
He said on
Sunday that he aimed to bring Georgescu into government if he won. “There are
several ways in which, if the Romanian people want, Mr Georgescu can be in our
country’s leadership, and we will use it,” Simion said. “We can form a majority
and have him as a prime minister, we can have snap elections or call for a
referendum.”
Romania held
parliamentary elections in December, with Simion’s AUR and other far-right
groups winning 35% of seats.
A snap
election can be triggered if MPs reject two proposed governments within the
space of 60 days. Experts have said this is unlikely since it has never
happened before, and for the time being at least, the ruling centrist coalition
appears united.
If he is
elected, Simion has said he would reveal “how much we have contributed to the
war effort in Ukraine, to the detriment of Romanian children and our elderly”.
To date,
Romania has donated a Patriot air defence battery to Kyiv, is training
Ukrainian fighter pilots and has enabled the export of 30m tonnes of Ukrainian
grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta since Russia’s invasion.
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