Pro-EU candidate wins Romanian presidential election rerun

Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan has received more than 50% of the votes in the second round.

Pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan has defeated Eurosceptic candidate George Simion in Romania’s presidential election rerun, according to the official tally.

With more than 99% of ballots counted, Dan secured 54% of the vote in Sunday’s runoff, while Simion received 46%.

Dan thanked his supporters for an “unprecedented mobilization.”

“Starting tomorrow, we begin the reconstruction of Romania – a united and honest Romania, founded on respect for the law and for all its people,” he wrote on X.

Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), has so far not conceded defeat. In a post on X on Sunday evening, he declared: “I am the new president.”

The pro-EU president of neighbouring Moldova, Maia Sandu, congratulated Dan. “Moldova and Romania stand together, supporting one another and working side by side for a peaceful, democratic, and European future for all our citizens,” she said.

The two countries share deep historical and cultural ties, with around 30% of Moldova’s population holding dual Moldovan-Romanian citizenship. Simion’s party has claimed that Moldovan authorities and media outlets carried out an illegal campaign to mobilize support for Dan among voters living in Moldova. Chisinau has denied any interference in the election.

The election rerun was ordered after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results of the November vote, in which independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu came first with 23%. The authorities cited “irregularities” in his campaign, along with intelligence reports alleging Russian interference – claims Moscow has denied.

Simion condemned the annulment of the 2024 election results as a “coup d’état” and said that, if elected, he could appoint Georgescu as prime minister.