MAGA-aligned ultranationalist George Simion has won the first round of Romania’s presidential election.
The 38-year-old will face pro-EU centrist Nicusor Dan, mayor of Bucharest, 55, in a run-off vote on May 18.
First election annulled due to Russian meddling
The first round of the election took place yesterday (Sunday May 4), five months after the first attempt was annulled by Romania’s top court.
Judges ruled online interference by Russia, as well as illicit campaign funding, had given undue benefit to far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who has since been banned from standing again.
Stagecraft to rev up populist base
In a piece of PR stagecraft designed to further ignite his populist base, Simion brought Georgescu with him to the polling station yesterday as he cast what he said was a vote “to restore democracy.”
Simion has openly declared his support for US president Donald Trump, even sporting a MAGA hat on occasions. He has recently dialled down his open support for Russia, but remains banned from neighbours Moldova and Ukraine due to his sympathies for Putin.
Left-led coalition could crumble
It is quite possible Romania’s left-leaning ruling coalition may disintegrate if Simion is elected president. There is speculation that, if elected, Simion will seek to bring Georgescu into some kind of leadership role, possibly even prime minister – a move that would symbolically and practically stick two fingers up to the centrist elites he and his voters are so opposed to.
Geographically strategic location
Romania occupies a geopolitically important location. It has land borders with Ukraine to its north and east. Its Black Sea port, Constanta, has been the channel through which Ukrainian grain has been kept flowing since Putin’s invasion three years ago.
Eastern Europe at a crossroads
Simion becoming president promises to redefine not just the future of Romania but the whole eastern flank of the NATO contingent, particularly if nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki is elected president of Poland on May 18, the same day as Romania’s presidential run-off vote. All eyes – notably those in Brussels and Washington – remain on eastern Europe.
