Romanians go to the polls on Sunday in a fressh attempt to elect a president after the original vote was cancelled over allegations of Russian and other malign foreign interference.
The election pits a nationalist, George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), against three centrists: the popular mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan; Crin Antonescu, a liberal who represents the governing Social-Democrat and National Liberal coalition, and a former Prime Minister Victor Ponta who has a foot in the nationalist and European camp.
A total of 11 candidates are on the ballot paper. If no candidate wins over 50% of the vote, a run-off between the first two candidates will be held on 18 May.
“This election is not about one candidate or another, but about every Romanian who has been lied to, ignored, humiliated, and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and rights,” frontrunner Simion posted on X on Friday.
Opinion polls, which have been less than reliable, suggest that he will come first and then face a tough runoff with either Nicusor Dan, Crin Antonescu or Victor Ponta in the run-off.
The election is being watched closely in European capitals, Washington, Kyiv and Moscow.
Romania is an important transit route for weapon systems to Ukraine. Ukraine exports 70% of its grain down the Black Sea coast, through Romanian territorial waters, towards Istanbul. The Romanian air force trains Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.
The country has a US missile defense shield at Deveselu, and three major airbases from which NATO flies air policing missions up to the border of Ukraine and Moldova, and out over the Black Sea.
Simion has tapped into and amplified public resentment at Romanian financial support for Ukrainian refugees. He denies he is pro-Russian but often repeats Kremlin narratives.
More than 400,000 in Romania’s large diaspora of a million registered voters have already cast their ballots by Sunday, especially in Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. They don’t figure in the opinion polls, and could easily sway the final result.
The original election was cancelled after a pro-Russian outsider with mystical leanings, Calin Georgescu, came first on 24 November. The top court annulled the result over allegations of Russian interference. Moscow, which supports Georgescu, has denied meddling,
In February, US Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Romania for that decision, sending shockwaves through a Romanian political establishment which depends on its special relationship with the US. Georgescu has been barred from taking part in Sunday’s rerun.
However, on the eve of the election, Trump official, the vice chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission, Republican James E. Trainor praised Bucharest for annulling the original ballot and confirmed foreign interference in the procedure, naming Russia but noting there were other malign foreign actors.
Defense and security documents “show very clearly that there were “external interference in the electoral process”, he said
