Pro-Russian candidate make a surprise in Romania’s presidential election first round
A pro-Russian candidate surprised Romania in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday by coming in close to pro-European Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, partial results showed.
After initially giving him less than 10% of the vote in opinion polls, the 62-year-old far-right, pro-Russian Calin Georgescu has won nearly 22% of the vote, compared to 21.1% for his rival Ciolacu, with 90% of the votes counted.
If this trend is confirmed, the two men will face each other in the second round scheduled for December 8.
Elena Lasconi, (52), a small-town mayor who heads a center-right party, came in third with 16.6% of the vote, ahead of nationalist candidate George Simeon received 14.5%.
The far right is the biggest winner in these elections by winning more than a third of the votes.
Experts say the far-right has benefited from a tense social and geopolitical climate in the EU- and NATO-aligned country on the border with Ukraine, a political earthquake in the country of 19 million people.
Romanians voted Sunday in the first round of a presidential election amid soaring inflation and concerns over the war in neighboring Ukraine.
With this vote, two weeks of elections will begin in the poor NATO member state, with legislative elections and the second round of the presidential vote on December 8.
