Right-wing populist Simion loses Pro-European Nicusor Dan wins presidential election in Romania
It was a directional election. Now the pro-Europeans in Romania can breathe a sigh of relief - and so can the EU. The right-wing populist Simion was defeated. He had wanted to make a Kremlin friend head of government.
19.05.2025, 04:46
19.05.2025, 04:50
SDA
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- The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, becomes the new president of Romania.
- After almost all votes have been counted, he is far ahead of the right-wing populist Simion.
- The defeated right-wing populist Simion had declared himself the winner well before the end of the count and contrary to the forecasts.
The pro-European politician Nicusor Dan becomes the new President of Romania. After the votes had been counted in almost 99 percent of polling stations, he had an unassailable lead over the right-wing populist George Simion, according to the electoral authorities in Bucharest.
According to the current count, the liberal-conservative is at around 54.1 percent, Simion at around 45.9 percent.
"We are living in a time of hope. But please be patient for the time ahead. It will be a difficult time that is necessary to balance the economy, this economy, to lay the foundations for a healthy society. Please be patient for that," Dan said on election night. "Let's enjoy tonight and tomorrow together and start rebuilding Romania," he added.
Simion also declared himself the winner - against the numbers
The defeated right-wing populist Simion had declared himself the winner well before the end of the count and against the forecasts. "We are the clear winners of this election. We claim this victory in the name of the Romanian people," Simion told his supporters in Bucharest in front of running TV cameras.
Even before the elections, Simion had accused the authorities of attempting to commit electoral fraud without providing any evidence. The news portal "g4media.ro" reported, citing unnamed sources in Simion's party AUR, that plans were underway to contest the election if their candidate was officially declared the loser.
Simion wanted to appoint Kremlin friend Georgescu as prime minister
On the evening of the election, Simion confirmed that he wanted to impose pro-Kremlin Calin Georgescu as the new prime minister. Georgescu had come first in the presidential election in November 2024, which was later annulled. The Constitutional Court had annulled this election due to irregular campaign methods and non-transparent financing and banned Georgescu from running again. In his election campaign, Simion referred to his good relations with Georgescu, who is still popular in Romania.