(18 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mogosoaia – 18 May 2025
1. Various of people casting ballots
STORYLINE:
Romanians are casting ballots Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.
Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.
Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.
Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.
Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania’s political establishment have fueled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures, reflecting a broader pattern across Europe. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.
Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff will be tight, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.
Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform.
The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. The winner of Sunday’s race will be charged with appointing a new prime minister, after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff.
After coming fourth in last year’s canceled race, Simion backed Georgescu who was banned in March from standing in the redo. Simion then surged to frontrunner in the May 4 first-round after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right.
Simion, who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape, reducing bureaucracy, and taxes. But he insists that his main goal is to restore democracy. “My platform is to return to democracy, to the will of the people,” he said.
The AUR party he leads says it stands for “family, nation, faith, and freedom” and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature.
AP Video by Nick Dumitrache
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