By Luisa Ilie
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanians vote on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could give a chance of winning to far-right politician George Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, admires Donald Trump and wants to emulate to the Italy of Giorgia Meloni.
Outgoing president Klaus Iohannis, 65, had cemented Romania’s strong pro-Western stance but was accused of not doing enough to combat corruption.
Voting starts at 0500 GMT and ends at 1900 GMT and exit polls will take place immediately. The second round is scheduled for December 8, while parliamentary elections will also be held next Sunday.
Voting began on Friday among Romanians abroad, who can influence the result and where Simion is popular. Simion voted in Rome.
Opinion polls show that leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, 56, leader of Romania’s largest party, the Social Democrats, will reach the second round, with second place likely to be Simion, 38, of the Alliance for the Unification of the Romanians.
Analysts expect Ciolacu to win the second round against Simion, appealing to moderates and touting his experience leading Romania during a neighboring war, but do not rule out a change amid frustration over the high cost of living.
They also say the prospects of a runoff between Ciolacu and Simion could mobilize center-right voters in favor of Elena Lasconi, leader of the center-right opposition Save Romania Union.
Simion has presented the elections as a choice between a political class entrenched and beholden to foreign interests in Brussels and himself, an outsider who will defend Romania’s economy and sovereignty. Romania has the highest proportion of people at risk of poverty in the EU.
“We took as a model the right-wing government formed in Italy,” Simion told foreign media earlier this week.
Since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Romania has allowed millions of tons of grain to be exported through its Black Sea port of Constanta and provided military aid, including donating a Patriot air defense battery.
“Romania has been unconditionally in favor of Ukraine and will continue to be so,” Ciolacu told Antena3 television channel.
FAMILY VALUES
Polls showed that Senate President Nicolae Ciuca, leader of the Liberal Party currently part of a tense governing coalition with Ciolacu’s party, was trailing Lasconi.
“The result remains very difficult to predict due to the high concentration of candidates and the division of the center-right vote,” said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University.
Most candidates, he said, have campaigned with conservative messages such as protecting family values.
“The candidates of the main parties have an all-encompassing message: on the one hand, the nation, the army, religion, etc. On the other hand, we see a commitment to Europe, although more as a source of income than as an inspiration for values.”
Romania’s president, limited to two five-year terms, has a semi-executive role that includes leading the armed forces and chairing the supreme defense council that decides on military aid.
The president represents the country at EU and NATO summits and appoints the prime minister, chief judges, prosecutors and heads of the secret services.