Hard-right Romanian presidential candidate George Simion in shock defeat

Pro-European Union centrist Nicusor Dan has defeated Trump administration favourite George Simion in a shock presidential election result in Romania.

Nicusor Dan has been elected Romania’s new president after a shock election result.

A Pro-European Union centrist was unexpectedly elected as Romania’s president yesterday (Sunday), but his hard-right rival refused to accept defeat in a hotly contested run-off.

After near-complete results showed Nicusor Dan, a former mathematician and centrist mayor of Bucharest, had taken more than 54 per cent of the votes, the defeated favourite, George Simion, insisted on X: “I am the new president of Romania.”

Dan’s victory will be a relief for EU officials who were alarmed at Simion’s attacks on Brussels, his threat to halt support for Ukraine and to annex Moldova, and the support he enjoyed from Trump administration officials.

The result reversed the outcome of the first round two weeks ago when Dan received 21 per cent of the vote compared with Simion’s 41 per cent.

Since the first round, however, polls showed Dan, 55, gaining ground on Simion, 38, as he gathered centrist votes before pulling even, setting up a tense run-off vote.

A two-term mayor of Bucharest, Dan has built a reputation as a battler against corruption who fought to save the city’s heritage architecture from demolition by property developers.

He founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later went solo and as an independent candidate has pitched himself as a political outsider, like Simion.

“Dan was the only alternative to Simion in the run-off and, because he represented no party, he avoided the curse of Romania’s rejected mainstream parties,” said Jonathan Eyal, assistant director of the Royal United Services Institute.

After voting in his home town of Fagaras yesterday (Sunday), Dan said: “I voted for a change that brings prosperity, not one that brings instability and discourages investment in Romania.”

Simion was so confident of victory he avoided TV debates, which may have cost him votes. Following Elon Musk’s example he threatened to axe half a million Romanian state jobs, another potential vote loser.

As his victory became clear, Dan said, “There is a community that lost today’s elections. A community that, rightly, is outraged by the way politics has been conducted in Romania so far.

“It is so outraged that it believes the solution is the revolution. It is our obligation to convince these people that the solution is the reform of the judiciary and administration, so that Romania can move forward.”

THE TIMES