Nationalist George Simion in the Romanian election again

The Romanians voted in a presidential election six months after the first attempt in scandal and confusion.

Outstanding surveys indicate that the right-wing candidate George Simion came first with about 30% of the votes after two centrical and Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan and Crin Antonescu, a liberal that represented the ruling social Democrat and National Liberal Coalition.

The elections on November 24 were obtained by a radical outsider with mystical tendencies, Calin Georgescu, but this result was canceled due to allegations of the campaign fraud and Russian interference.

Since no candidate is expected to receive more than 50% of the votes in the repetition, a drain between the two top booths is expected on May 18.

After the surveys were closed, Simion thanked the ones who voted for him. “It was an act of courage, trust and solidarity,” he said in a recorded message.

In February, the US Vice President JD Vance Romania criticized sharply for the survey's abolition and sent shock waves through a Romanian political establishment that is strongly based on his special relationship with the United States. Georgescu was nevertheless excluded from participation in the repetition.

“This choice is not about one or the other candidate, but about every Romanian who lied to, ignored, humiliated and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and our rights,” Simion posted on X on Friday.

The result awaits in European capitals, Washington, Kyiv and Moscow. Romania is an important transit route for weapon systems and ammunition to Ukraine. The country has a US rocket defense sign in Deveselu and three large airbases, from which the NATO missions of the air police fly to the border between Ukraine and Moldova and over the Black Sea.

Ukraine exports 70% of its grain on the Black Sea coast through Romanian territorial waters towards Istanbul. The Romanian Navy is growing these waters, and the Romanian Air Force trains the Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16. The Trump government checks its commitment to Romania. A Visa T-Terer Agreement was abruptly broken off on the eve of the election.

“Forget more help for Ukraine when Simion becomes president,” says George Scutaru, a security expert in the new strategy center in Bucharest. As head of the National Security Council, the President can make any decision and have a strong influence on security policy. But Scutaru expresses “careful optimism” that one of the centers will win the stitch.

The public resentment in Romanian financial support for Ukrainian refugees was a central plank in the Simion campaign, although he denies that he is pro-Russian.

On a May afternoon, the sightseers bake in the gardens of the Cotroceni Palace, the presidential residence in the west of Bucharest. The decision of interim president Ilie Bolojan to open the buildings and gardens for the public is very popular with visitors.

White and purple Iris line the paths under old horse found in full flower. A military band marches between flower beds from stepmothers and violets. The palace is a former monastery that was converted in the 17th century and became at home in the 19th century of the Romanian royal family.

“I can't really imagine Simion here …” Ionut, a satirical writer, tells me alongside a decorated waterfall that looks up to the palace walls. In the first round of the election in November, he voted for Simion, out of anger about the constant delays of the Romania's full membership in the Schengen freestyle zone. And frustration about the outgoing president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

But Romania finally joined the Schengen land borders on January 1, and Iohannis stepped aside in the same month. “Romanians are now less angry,” he believes. He told his daughter that he would vote for Nicusor Dan in this election, but did not quite decide.

Ana, a business consultant who goes through the Palace Gardens with her family, also supports Nicusor Dan. “I want to vote for both continuity and changes,” she says. “Continuity in Romania's relationship with Europe, but changes in relation to corruption. We young people no longer refer to the old parties” – something that Nicus Dan has in common with Simion.

Many in Romania's big diaspora – one million are registered, are already given in Spain, Italy, Germany and Great Britain. They are invisible in opinion polls and could easily influence the end result.