Romanians vote in cliffhanger election as tensions continue to rise

Romanians are out to elect their president on Sunday in a cliffhanger election that has transfixed and polarised the country, with both candidates running neck and neck in the latest polls.

Most Romanians see today’s choice as probably the most important vote in Romania’s post-communist history. The first hours of voting showed significant turnout both in the country and in the diaspora, a sign of the huge stakes for the future direction of NATO’s Eastern flank, Euronews Romania reports.

The vote in the diaspora has doubled compared to the first round, while in Romania, the urban voters and the youth have already surpassed their first-round participation.

As vote participation is now the decisive election factor, at 12 pm CEST, the historic 1 million votes in the diaspora, including the Republic of Moldova, had been cast.

Centrist independent candidate Nicușor Dan voted with his wife in his tranquil Transylvanian hometown of Fagaras. He represents the current pro-EU, pro-NATO course, saying he voted for “a pro-European direction and for good cooperation with our European partners, and not for Romania’s isolation.”

Hard-right nationalist candidate George Simion went to vote outside Bucharest with his now-choice for future prime minister, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, the protagonist of the unprecedented annulled elections and the ensuing political crisis in December.

In a talk show on Friday, Simion and Georgescu concluded the campaign side by side to outline their potential doctrines ahead. With Georgescu calling Simion “George” and “my protégé”, and Simion addressing him as “Mister Georgescu, from whom I have learned a lot,” the political couple said they will prioritise good relations with the United States.

“We do everything with them, but we also have China, Russia, and Brazil,” Georgescu said.

“It is unimaginable not to have substantive, non-collegial relationships of minimal respect. We have catching up to do in terms of absorption of EU funds. So far, we have not attracted EU money because of incompetence at the state level.”

Simion proclaimed that “we will not withdraw from any alliance and we will cooperate, as Mister Georgescu says, this is our foreign policy, with all the states of the world.” Repeating a constant reassurance of his campaign, given EU-wide concerns, Simion proclaimed, ” We will not withdraw from any alliance.”

After voting on Sunday morning outside Bucharest surrounded by multiple bodyguards and supporters, Simion said he voted against “against the inequities and humiliations to which our sisters and brothers have been subjected here, in the current borders, and everywhere.”

“I voted against abuses and against poverty, I voted against those who disregard us all. But I also voted for our future,” Simion added.

Simion and Georgescu were asked by police to leave the polling station when they were about to address the media next to the voting booths, as the law forbids campaigning inside. The social media videos show Simion saying, “Thank you, mister policeman does not want us to take the media,” before moving outside for the media statements, further adding to the cliffhanger atmosphere in Romania.

Georgescu, dubbed the “TikTok Messiah,” came out on top in the first round of Romania’s presidential election in December 2024, which the country’s constitutional court annulled following the declassification of intelligence reports showing Russian involvement in influencing voters through social media to support the then-relatively unknown candidate.

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Georgescu also continues to face criminal proceedings, including committing anticonstitutional acts and misreporting his campaign finances.

The charges also revolve around his support for sympathisers of the Iron Guard, a pre-World War II fascist and antisemitic movement and political party, which is illegal under Romanian law.

‘We are at a crossroads’

After voting, former Romanian president and staunch NATO ally Traian Basescu spoke in no uncertain terms.

“This is a crucial vote, we are at a crossroads, with clear choices to the West or to the East,” Basescu said.

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“If the choice is pro-Moscow, they will vote for one candidate, and if the choice is pro-Euro-Atlantic, they will vote for another candidate. That’s all. It’s a decisive day.”

The estimated 6-million-strong Romanian diaspora, whose votes can decide the election, has been casting their ballots since Friday and has already exceeded the turnout of the first round, in a sign of massive mobilisation for the country’s choice and future.

On Saturday, Euronews talked to Romanian voters in Belgium, where no less than 29 polling stations have been set up across the country.

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“A pro-European future, the possibility of accessing European funds, collaboration with member states, free movement within the European area, and more recently, Schengen, free movement,” said one voter when asked about the choice.

In contrast, another one said, “We voted for something a candidate inspired us to do, something we’d never seen before. We didn’t vote for the lesser evil, we voted for what’s best for Romania.”

As the vote can go either way, the deep divisions in Romanian society and their consequences for the country’s immediate political and economic evolution will be a massive challenge for whoever wins the election tonight.

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Meanwhile, Simion has already expressed concerns of alleged voter fraud, stating that in case of his loss on Sunday, his supporters are prepared to protest, with some online posts calling for a Ukraine-style “Maidan” in Bucharest — threats that have added further fuel to the heightened tensions in the country.

Follow Euronews Romania’s live coverage of the presidential election repeat’s runoff here.