In election shock, Romanian far-right NATO critic set to contest presidential run-off

A hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia is set to face a centre-right opposition leader in a presidential election run-off in Romania that could undermine its pro-Western stance after a shock outcome in the first-round vote.

With 99.9% of votes counted after voting on Sunday, independent hard-right politician Calin Georgescu, 62, had 22.95% of votes. Centre-right contender Elena Lasconi, leader of the opposition Save Romania Union, lay second with 19.2%.

The outcome was a huge shock as pre-election opinion polls had made Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu the frontrunner. The candidate of the centre-right Liberals, Ciolacu's coalition partners, also failed to secure a place in the election run-off, which will be on Dec. 8. 

Campaigning focused largely on the soaring cost of living in Romania, which is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance and has the EU's biggest share of people at risk of poverty.

"I have voted for the wronged, the humiliated, those who feel they do not matter in this world," Georgescu said on Sunday. "Today, the vote is a prayer for the nation."

Georgescu had been polling in single digits before the vote and ran a Tik Tok-driven campaign. 

"Just imagine, we are in a position where we could have a far-right president," political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu said. "This is where the establishment parties have led us, first by vehemently denying the existence of a hybrid war and then by falling into it. His chances of winning are high."

Romania's sovereign euro bonds fell nearly 2 cents on Monday following the first round of voting.

Asked about the election outcome, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "I would not make any predictions yet. We probably cannot  say that we are that familiar with the world view of this  candidate as far as relations with our country are concerned." 

"For now, we understand very clearly the current  leadership of Romania, which is not a friendly country to us. We  will of course watch how the electoral processes develop and who  wins."

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION LOOMS

Romania, a southeast European country of 19 million that was under communist rule for four decades until 1989, holds a parliamentary election on Dec. 1 in which political analysts said hard-right groupings were likely to receive an electoral boost from Georgescu's success.

Georgescu is a former member of the hard-right opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians who has praised Ion Antonescu, Romania's de facto World War Two leader who was sentenced to death for his part in Romania's Holocaust, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, leader of a pre-war violent anti-Semitic movement.

Georgescu has called a NATO ballistic missile defence shield in Romania a "shame of diplomacy" and questioned whether the Western defence alliance would protect any of its members if they were attacked by Russia. 

He said Romania's best chance lay with "Russian wisdom," but has refused to say explicitly whether he supports Russia.   

Romania shares a 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and since Russia attacked Kyiv in 2022, it has enabled the export of millions of tons of grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta and provided military aid, including the donation of a Patriot air defence battery.

"I voted for him, he came out of the (blue), we are glad to have a president, it's a big thing," said Elena Bardea while sweeping leaves outside her courtyard in Izvorani, a village near capital Bucharest from which Georgescu ran his campaign.

Also in Izvorani, Alexandru Stelu Ghita wondered if the country could be repaired. 

"Everything was sold off, what can be repaired, agriculture is working badly, industry is working badly," he said. 

Pirvulescu said retaining control of parliament would be important for pro-Western forces to serve as a counterbalance to Georgescu if he becomes president.

The president, who is limited to two five-year terms, has a semi-executive role which includes heading Romania's armed forces and chairing the supreme defence council that decides on military aid.

The president represents Romania at EU and NATO summits and appoints the prime minister, chief judges, prosecutors and secret service heads. The current head of state, Klaus Iohannis, won power in 2014 on a promise to bolster the fight against endemic corruption.