Romanians are voting Sunday in a pivotal presidential runoff that could change their country’s relationship with the EU and NATO and affect their economy.
George Simion, a EU-critical, former soccer ultra who admires Trump is facing the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan in a vote that is down to the wire and has been called the most significant for the country since communism ended in 1989.
Simion who opposes mllitary aid to Ukraine easily won the May 4 first round with 41%, double the score of Dan who has – who has described the vote as a battle between “a pro-western and an anti-western Romania.”
Polls have shown the gap between the two candidates closing, with one putting them neck and neck and another placing Dan ahead.
Simion’s win triggered the collapse of the coalition government. Whoever wins will nominate the next prime minister and influence the formation of a new ruling coalition.
The prospect of a Simion win has unnerved markets and investors, causing the Romanian leu to fall. Foreign business chambers in Romania have warned of a “rapid deterioration” in the business climate. Romania has the EU’s highest budget deficit of 9.3%.
The vote is a rerun of last November’s ballot, won by a far-right, Moscow-friendly outsider, Călin Georgescu, who was barred from standing again after the vote was cancelled amid allegations of Russian interference and campaign finance violation. Simion has promised to nominate Georgescu prime minister if he wins and the pair voted together on Sunday.
Simion says he wants the country to remain in NATO and the EU, but he could ally Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico as another disruptive factor in the region.
