Centrist Nicusor Dan has been declared the winner of Romania’s closely watched presidential election with 99 percent of votes counted.
Bucharest’s pro-European mayor won 54 percent of the votes, the electoral authority reported on Monday, to beat nationalist George Simion, who was on 46 percent. The result of the race, viewed as crucial for the direction of the NATO member and having wider geopolitical implications for Europe, has been warmly welcomed by the European Union and Ukraine.
Dan, who pledged to clamp down on corruption and staunchly supports Romania’s membership of the EU and NATO, made a last-minute dash to lead the race ahead of the election after weeks of trailing his rival.
The eurosceptic Simion had pledged to end military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and promised to disrupt the establishment in a similar style to United States President Donald Trump.
However, the threat of turning the country away from Europe and towards Russia appeared to mobilise the liberal base, and Sunday’s election drew a turnout of about 65 percent, the highest in 25 years.
Simion, who was the top vote-getter in the first round of the election two weeks ago, conceded after earlier claiming that he had won the election.
Speaking to private television station Digi24, Dan, who had campaigned on a pledge to fight rampant corruption and keep Romania firmly within the European mainstream, said he wanted a new coalition government to include all four centre-right and centre-left parliamentary parties.
“It was supposed to be a tight race, but supporters of Nicusor Dan couldn’t be happier,” said Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from Bucharest. “For them, it’s not just a question of Romania’s future, but of its place within the European Union.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quick to congratulate the pro-EU winner, saying Dan’s victory would help work towards “a strong Europe”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Romanians had “chosen democracy, the rule of law, and the European Union … despite many attempts at manipulation”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also congratulated Dan, saying it “is important to have Romania as a reliable partner”.
However, Dan had a note of caution regarding the task ahead of Romania’s political leaders.
“The tension in society will remain until people believe the government is working on their behalf,” he told Al Jazeera.
Anti-MAGA
Sunday’s ballot came five months after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled a previous election over allegations of Russian interference and promotion of the far-right frontrunner, Calin Georgescu, who was not allowed to stand again.
Simion had appeared alongside Georgescu at a Bucharest polling station on Sunday and told reporters that he had voted against the “humiliations to which our sisters and brothers have been subjected”.
However, the large turnout illustrated a backlash against a right-wing populist tide that has been encouraged by Russia and reinvigorated by the successful return of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
“This is a really strong result for the pro-European candidate,” Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at consultancy Eurasia Group, told the Reuters news agency.
“It’s another example of the positive Trump effect on European election cycles, where concerns about the political and policy direction moving in a MAGA-like way have mobilised voters.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Romanian government said it had detected a misinformation campaign bearing the “hallmarks of Russian interference” after the founder of the Telegram platform, Pavel Durov, indicated that France had asked for Romanian conservative voices to be silenced.
“During Romania’s ongoing presidential elections, yet again we see the hallmarks of Russian interference,” Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman posted on X.
Durov alleged interference by France in the Romanian election in a post on his channel.
“A Western European government [guess which] approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused,” Durov said.
The post did not name France but used an icon of a French baguette.
However, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said it “categorically rejects these allegations and calls everyone to responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy”.
