Voting in the first round of the presidential election / Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos
An unexpected result was recorded in the Romanian presidential election after the first round. According to a preliminary count of 90% of the ballots, far-right politician and NATO critic Calin Georgescu and the current Prime Minister, Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, have almost equal support: 22% and 21% of the vote respectively. This was reported by Reuters.
The diaspora is changing the balance of power
The results of voting among the significant Romanian diaspora, which have not yet been included in the overall count, show that Georgescu and independent candidate Elena Lasconi are in the lead. This could be a decisive factor in the fight.
Political stakes and the strategic role of the president
The Romanian president has semi-executive functions, including control over defence spending. This issue is of particular importance as Bucharest is under pressure from NATO to support military spending, particularly during Donald Trump’s second term in office. At the same time, the country is trying to reduce its high budget deficit.
In recent years, Romania has played a key role in supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, ensuring the export of millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain through the port of Constanta and providing military assistance, including the transfer of a Patriot battery.
Georgescu is a far-right challenge to the Euro-Atlantic course
Calin Georgescu, a former representative of the far-right AUR (Alliance for the Unification of Romanians) party, is an outspoken critic of NATO. In 2021, he called the Alliance’s missile defence system in Deveselu a “disgrace to diplomacy” and said that NATO would not be able to defend its members in the event of an attack by Russia.
Such positions pose a threat to the sustainable pro-Ukrainian course of Romania, which has a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine and has been actively supporting Kyiv since the beginning of Russian aggression.
Campaign focus and expectations for the second round
The main theme of the election campaign was economic issues. Romania remains the country with the highest poverty rate in the EU, and high living costs are causing growing social tensions.
Political analyst Radu Magdin, commenting on the results of the first round, said that the second round promises to be tense. “Cholaku, as the incumbent prime minister, is more vulnerable to a negative campaign,” the expert said.
Whether Romania will be able to maintain its stable Euro-Atlantic course will become clear after the second round of elections.
