High Votes for Right-Wing Candidates Push Romanian Presidential Elections to Second Round

With nearly all votes counted in the Romanian presidential elections, a far-right candidate and staunch NATO critic, along with the leader of the country's center-right party, advanced to the second round. At the end of the elections on Sunday, December 4, Colin Georgescu, the far-right candidate leaning towards Russia, topped the polls with 22.9% of the votes, while Elena Lascuoni followed with 19.16%, surpassing current Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. These two will face off on December 18 to determine Romania's next president. The high support for right-wing candidates among Romanians signifies a political earthquake in this NATO member and a serious ally of Ukraine. The results of Sunday’s election marked one of the biggest political surprises in Romania since the post-communist era, as leaders of the largest parties, namely the leftist Social Democratic Party and the center-right Liberal Party, which form the current coalition government, were eliminated in this first round. Some pre-election polls had predicted Colin Georgescu's potential vote share to be only around 5%, but the high vote for him and his first-place finish surprised everyone. Colin Georgescu, the far-right candidate, focused his campaign on the rising cost of living, as Romania has the highest percentage of citizens on the brink of poverty in the entire European Union. He, previously a steadfast member of the 'Alliance for the Union of Romanians' party, described the deployment of NATO missile defense systems in the town of 'Deveselu' as a 'shame for diplomacy.' He emphasized that if any NATO member were to be attacked by Russia, the alliance would not support them. On the other hand, Elena Lascuoni, a journalist who joined the center-right 'Save Romania' party six years ago and became its leader this year, believes in increasing defense budgets and continuing support for Ukraine. Polls indicated that if she advanced to the second round alongside Marcel Ciolacu, she could defeat him. Official statistics report a significant increase in living costs in Europe. Marcel Ciolacu, who was recognized as one of the final two candidates until the last hours of vote counting, only ceded his position to Ms. Lascuoni in the final moments, promising to increase public budgets and combat the sharp rise in taxes. Meanwhile, Romania is grappling with an 8% budget deficit, the highest in the European Union, during his government. He has faced significant criticism, including for using private jets, and has also promised security and political stability. Romania shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine and has supported Kyiv since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war nearly three years ago by facilitating the export of grains through the port of Constanta on the Black Sea and providing military aid, including the donation of Patriot defense systems. Border villages have intermittently witnessed violations of their airspace by Russian drones; however, no one on this side of the border has been harmed so far. Romania and Latvia have called for collective action against violations of their airspace by Russia. Some Romanian political analysts, considering Colin Georgescu's positions and particularly the significant gap between his vote share in Sunday’s elections and poll results, do not rule out Russian interference in the elections aimed at boosting his votes and warn of its potential recurrence in the second round. At the end of the first round of elections, George Simion, another right-wing candidate, placed fourth by a narrow margin. Klaus Iohannis, the current 65-year-old president of Romania, has significantly expanded the country's relations with the West during his two presidential terms. However, he has been accused by critics of failing to combat corruption. The President of Romania has a relatively high executive power, including regarding the approval of defense spending; a topic that, with Donald Trump's return to power in the United States and his pressure for greater financial contributions from NATO members on one hand, and the significant budget deficit of this country on the other, complicates matters for Romania's next president.