Pro-Western candidate Dan leads after presidential elections

(Patria) - The second round of presidential elections was held in Romania today, with candidates being populist right-winger George Simion and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. According to polls, Dan has achieved "the impossible" and is leading with 54.9 percent of the votes, while Simion has 45.1 percent.

The elections in Romania transcend Romania itself and are of great importance for the entire European Union, as well as Ukraine. The results will show whether the right-wing surge across Europe still has momentum, or if it will be stopped, at least for now, in a country that has gained additional geopolitical significance due to Ukraine.

In his speeches, Simion criticized support for Ukraine, while Dan is close to the policy advocated by official Brussels. Due to his performance, Simion has been dubbed the "Romanian Trump".

In the first round of elections held on May 4th, Simion won with more than a 20 percent lead over Dan.


As many as 64.5 percent of voters turned out for today's elections, which is a significantly higher turnout compared to the first round. Most analysts predicted that higher turnout would favor Dan. On the other hand, exit polls did not include the results from the diaspora, which predominantly voted for Simion in the first round.

In his immediate comments after the announcement of the exit polls, Nicusor Dan praised the "impressive strength" of Romanian society that desires "deep change" and says the victory shows that Romanians want "dialogue, not hatred".

Nationalist George Simion not only rejects what the exit polls say, that he is trailing Dan by at least nine points, but he also claims to have won.

"I am the new president and I am returning power to the Romanians," he claimed, with a determined expression on his face, though without a smile, showing he will not easily give up this race.

Simion insists that his estimates place him ahead of his rival Nicusor Dan by 400,000 votes.