Nationalists on the rise as Romania holds elections

Romania’s future depends on who comes second in the first  round of presidential elections on Sunday.

Anti-reform, anti-European candidates and their parties are expected to poll well in the presidential and parliamentary elections held over the next three weekends and could be  part of a coalition government for the first time.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the  Social Democratic Party (PSD)  is expected to come first in the  presidential poll but will not win outright leading to a second round on December 8.

Voters in the sixth-largest country in the European Union in terms of population size and of major strategic significance on the southeastern flank of the EU and NATO are leaning toward  nationalist parties like never before.

This could affect Romania’s strategic position as the most important base for US and NATO forces in southeastern Europe.

George Simion, who is polling second according to surveys, has said he wants Romania to stay in NATO but to remain ‘neutral.’ Ciolacu was in Budapest on Friday to thank Premier Vikor Orban for his  role in securing Schengen membership next year, and if he wins would likely forge a close relationship with  the  Hungarian strongman.

The Social Democratic Party does not have a social democratic orientation, but generally adopts right-wing populist, nationalist positions mixed with left-wing stance on social and economic issues.

For many urban Romanians, the PSD embodies widespread corruption of the past 35 years while it is the dominant political party in rural regions in the poorer east and south.

Simion, who heads the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) is generally an anti-European nationalist, but has toned down his rhetoric during the campaign.

He admires politicians like Donald Trump and Viktor Orban and is banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine because he claims parts of their territory should belong to Romania,repeating Kremlin rhetoric.

Neck and neck with Simion and vying for second place in the first round of the presidential election is Elena Lasconi, the chairwoman of the progressive liberal Save Romania Union (USR). She was a former television journalist and presenter on a private TV channel, and entered  politics a few years ago and was elected mayor of the small southern town of Campulung.

Liberal Party leader Nicolae Ciuca, a retired general who was a veteran of the Iraq and Afghani

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stan conflicts is polling in fourth position, although polls are unreliable.