Stakes have never been this high in Romania's post-communist history, as Romanians voted in a crucial and polarised presidential election runoff on Sunday, in which centrist Nicușor Dan faced nationalist George Simion.
Pro-West independent candidate Nicusor Dan staged a dramatic comeback on Sunday to win the Romanian presidential elections with a firm 54% of the votes,
Euronews reports.
His contender, hard-right candidate George Simion, with 46% of votes, at first refused to concede in an unprecedented political thriller which transfixed and polarised the country on NATO’s eastern flank, but then relented, congratulating Dan on his victory late on Sunday night.
“It’s a bitter feeling, but this election is just the beginning," Simion said, congratulating his opponent.
Romanians have chosen to continue their current pro-Western course by turning out in record numbers to vote for the unassuming mayor of Bucharest and against the nationalist doctrines represented by Simion and his ally Calin Georgescu.
But the deep divisions in fractured Romanian society, represented by the small difference in the votes, mean that future president Dan faces a massive challenge to reunite the country and address the looming economic turmoil gripping Romania.
But Romania’s choice brings a substantial sigh of relief for the EU, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, at a crucial time for all, also because president-elect Dan will work with the current pro-West majority in parliament.
Campaigning on an anti-corruption and reformist platform, pledging honesty and decency, Dan has not only beaten the hard-right Simion but also the entire Romanian political establishment in the two rounds of the presidential re-run after the Constitutional Court annulled the previous presidential vote held in November and December 2024, setting off an unprecedented, destabilising political crisis.
Dan’s campaign also received a boost in the only national presidential debate hosted by Euronews Romania, which was seen as the turning point of the political battle for the presidency.
