Romania’s pro-EU prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has resigned after his ruling coalition’s candidate crashed out of a presidential election rerun decisively won by a far-right Trump admirer, dramatically deepening the country’s political turmoil.
“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” Ciolacu, told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic party (PSD). “The ruling coalition has no legitimacy, at least in this formula.”
Ciolacu said the PSD would withdraw from the pro-western coalition – effectively ending it – while cabinet ministers will stay on in an interim capacity until a new majority can be negotiated after the presidential run-off on 18 May.
Sunday’s first-round vote was convincingly won by ultranationalist George Simion, 38, who sports Maga caps, pushes a socially conservative agenda and has called for the “Melonisation” – referring to Italy’s far-right prime minister – of Europe.
Simion’s score of 40.96% was almost double that of the second-placed finisher, the Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan. The two will face each other in a runoff that raises the prospect of another disruptive nationalist joining the EU leaders’ club.
The coalition candidate, Crin Antonescu, finished third in a bitter blow to the government, formed after December elections by the leftist PSD, the centrist Liberals and ethnic Hungarian UDMR to keep the EU and Nato member on a pro-western track.
Simion’s Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and two other sovereignist parties won more than a third of parliamentary seats, and forming a new majority without the far-right bloc will be hard – even more so if Simion is elected president.
A Simion victory – and a likely change of government – could lead to Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, veering away from the mainstream and becoming another disruptive force within the EU alongside Hungary and Slovakia.
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.
“The problem now isn’t that Romania is in a hard place, but that the EU is, should George Simion win,” said the political scientist Cristian Pîrvulescu. “The anti-European group within the EU will become more substantial.”
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Romania’s voters had sent “a very nice boomerang” to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, echoing claims Brussels was behind the cancellation of the original vote last year.
Simion said after the result that his win was “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.”
The far-right candidate added: “I am here to serve Romanians, not the other way around. He said he believed in an EU “that thrives as a nest for its diverse and sovereign nations – not as a rigid system enforcing one-size-fits-all policies”.
Simion, whose AUR has grown from an anti-vax movement into the country’s second-largest party, finished first in 36 of 47 electoral districts and secured 61% of the large overseas vote.
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) and campaigned as a pro-EU, anti-corruption independent, called the runoff a battle “to convince Romanians that Romania needs its pro-western direction”.
He said the two weeks leading up to the runoff would be “difficult against this isolationist candidate … It will not be a debate between individuals, it will be a debate between a pro-western direction for Romania and an anti-western direction”.
Experts have said Dan may struggle to beat Simion in the runoff because of disagreements between the independent candidate and the mainstream PSD and Liberal parties that could easily deter their voters from switching allegiance.
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.
Last November’s cancelled first round was won by Călin Georgescu, a far-right, Moscow-friendly independent, but was annulled by Romania’s top court after declassified intelligence documents revealed an alleged Russian influence operation.
Georgescu, who denies any wrongdoing, was later 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.
Simion promised on Sunday to make Georgescu prime minister, either through a referendum, early elections or forming a new government coalition, if he won.
Simion denies his policies are far-right but has described his party as “natural allies” of Trump and promised an alliance of EU countries “in the spirit of Maga”. He has frequently criticised Russia, but consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine.
