Romanian presidential election won by pro-European candidate

The second round of the Romanian presidential election ended with the victory of Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, who was supported by 6 million 168.6 thousand voters, or 53.6%.

This was reported by the Central Electoral Bureau of Romania.

His competitor, Gheorghe Simion, received the support of 5 million 339 thousand voters, which amounted to 46.4% of the electorate. George Simion has already conceded defeat and congratulated the winner.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also congratulated Nikushor Dan on his victory. Meanwhile, HotNews notes that Nicușor Dan is the first Romanian president to win the race without the support of any political force, as an independent candidate.

As for Gheorghe Simion, he is the leader of the far-right Romanian party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR).

In contrast, Nicușor Dan is a supporter of continued cooperation with the European Union and has not proclaimed territorial claims to Ukraine.

Some publications tend to call Nicușor Dan's victory a miracle, because the first round of elections held on May 4 was won by Joje Simion with a significant advantage, gaining 3 million 862 thousand 404 votes. Nicușor Dan was supported by 1 million 979 thousand 711 Romanians.

However, the media also noted a sharp increase in diaspora participation in the vote. For example, HotNews reported that as of May 17, twice as many voters abroad, where voting began at 22:00 on Thursday and will continue until 21:00 on Sunday in all countries where the diaspora resides, voted as of May 17 than during the first round.

It should be noted that due to statements about territorial claims to Ukraine and Moldova, George Simion is banned from entering these countries. The territorial claims of a number of Romanian political forces to Ukraine concern Odesa region and Bukovyna, which were part of Romania for some time, but after 1940 were transferred to the Soviet Union and later became part of independent Ukraine.

In March, the Romanian Central Electoral Bureau decided to reject the candidacy of Kelin Georgescu in the presidential election, which caused a clash between his supporters and local law enforcement.

The Constitutional Court of Romania then decided to cancel the results of the first round of the presidential election held on December 1. The winner of the first round, Kelin Georgescu, criticized the court's decision, calling it a coup d'etat.

Кирило Бойко