(Bloomberg) — Romania’s presidential election was upended by a nationalist who has voiced admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, setting up a likely runoff with an establishment candidate in one of the country’s biggest upsets since the end of communism.
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Calin Georgescu took 22% of the vote with more than 80% of ballots counted, putting him ahead late Sunday against Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who had 20%. The top two vote winners advance to the runoff on Dec. 8.
Georgescu’s unexpectedly strong showing, fueled by a TikTok campaign aimed at young voters, amounts to a political earthquake in Romania, a NATO member that has backed Ukraine and helped arm Kyiv, including with Patriot missile defenses, since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Georgescu, 62, has questioned military support for Ukraine, called for an end to the war and cast doubt on the benefit of Romania’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In a 2020 interview, he called Putin one of the world’s few true leaders and said the Russian president loves his country regardless of the means he uses.
Romania shares the EU’s longest border with Ukraine and is among NATO countries that say their airspace has been violated or territory struck with debris as a result of Russian air attacks on Ukraine.
“Tonight the Romanian people shouted ‘peace’ and they were very loud,” Georgescu told supporters Sunday evening.
Romania’s president holds a largely ceremonial office, but is the commander-in-chief of the military and represents the country at NATO and European Union summits.
Georgescu’s surge coincides with a changing of the guard in Washington that’s expected to affect Ukraine policy as Donald Trump returns to the White House after his election victory on Nov. 5.
If confirmed, Sunday’s result could pose a challenge for Ciolacu ahead of general elections on Dec. 1. A coalition between his Social Democrats and Liberal Party, which ran Romania over the last three years, collapsed last month.
The next administration looks set to face a turbulent term, including the challenge of inflation and a surge in social spending, which is expected to result in the European Union’s widest budget deficit this year.
This year’s elections follow a period of relative political calm in Romania marked by joint government by the main parties. Their pact drew a line under a decade of political turmoil and mass protests — and helped push forward long-delayed investments in infrastructure.
(Updates with Georgescu quote in sixth paragraph.)
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