Far-right presidential candidate George Simion, of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), appears set to win the first round of voting in Romania’s election, although the ultimate victor will be determined in a runoff later this month.
Why It Matters
Romania in December annulled the results of the first round of the country’s presidential election after declassified intelligence documents by then-Romanian President Klaus Iohannis alleged that Russia orchestrated a campaign to promote far-right candidate Călin Georgescu on platforms such as TikTok and Telegram. Iohannis, meanwhile, resigned in February.
As a result, Georgescu has been banned from partaking in the subsequent election. Both Georgescu and Moscow have denied any collusion.
What To Know
Exit poll results on Sunday showed Simion, a nationalist who has voiced support for President Donald Trump, leading with 30 percent, or more, of the vote.
“It was an act of courage, trust and solidarity,” Simion said in a pre-recorded thank you message to supporters, the BBC reported.
“We are approaching an exceptional result, far beyond what the system’s TV channels present, which stirred up division, sprayed venom and distorted everything I said,” he added.
Prior to the election, Simion wrote on X that the “election is not about one candidate or another, but about every Romanian who has been lied to, ignored, humiliated, and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and rights.”
The candidate expected to face off with Simion in the May 18 runoff was not immediately clear, as two candidates—Crin Antonescu and Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan—were neck-and-neck, according to the exit polling data. However, Antonescu, the governing Social-Democrat and National Liberal coalition, holds a slender lead in multiple projections.
Antonescu served as acting president of Romania for about six weeks in the summer of 2012, but has also served as the president of the Senate of Romania between 2012 and 2014.
Dan has held his post since 2020 and founded the Save Bucharest Union, which later evolved into the Save Romania Union, in 2015, although he left the party in 2017.
Andrei Pungovschi/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
MAGA influencer and commentator Jackson Hinkle, who has 2.9 million X followers, wrote: “CONTRATULATIONS to MP George Simion on WINNING the first round of Romania’s Presidential Election re-run.” He also posted an interview he previously conducted with Simion.
What Happens Next?
A runoff will occur as no candidate will have more than 50 percent of the vote after the weekend. Around 9.5 million people, roughly 53 percent of voters, turned out to vote, Politico reported.
Update 5/4/25 at 5:42 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information, context and comments.
