A few weeks ago, it looked like the far-right ultranationalist George Simion was going to cruise to an easy win. But then Donald Trump jumped into the fray, threatening Europe with 10% tariffs and a 25% tariff on automobiles, a sector important to Romania’s economy. Siminion has also worn a MAGA ball cap and done interviews with far-right American journalists and podcasters, acts which did not endear him to voters. Siminion also didn’t help himself by calling the soft-spoken Dan “autistic.” The leader of the extremist AUR party said, instead, that he meant to call Dan a “Nazi,” a “Marxist,” a “Sorosist,” or a “securist,” the latter implying that his opponent has connections with the Romanian information and security services. It was not a great start to an election race.
Source: The Guardian
The centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, is set to win Romania’s pivotal presidential election with 99% of votes counted, according to official figures showing the pro-EU independent eight points clear of his far-right rival, George Simion.
The figures from Romania’s central election authority showed Dan, who had cast the second round vote as a battle between “a pro-western and an anti-western Romania”, on 54.2%, while Simion, a self-professed Trump admirer, had 45.8%.
