Romanians were voting on Sunday in a tense presidential election re-run, a tight race between a fan of US President Donald Trump and a pro-EU mayor that could reshape the direction of the key NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.
If nationalist George Simion wins the rerun — held after last year’s vote was annulled over allegations of election interference — he would become the country’s first far-right president.
That would thrust Romania into a growing group of European Union countries with nationalist leaders critical of Brussels and keen to cut military aid to Ukraine.
Far-right leader Simion and his rival, Bucharest’s Mayor Nicusor Dan, have both campaigned on a platform of change amid anger with politicians deemed corrupt who have ruled one of the EU’s poorest countries since the end of Communism 35 years ago.
“I voted thinking about a better life,” Catalin Birca, 57, a pensioner in Bucharest, told AFP, adding that he wanted his country to remain pro-European.
“What are we doing otherwise? Going back to where we started from?” he added.
‘Turning point’
Polls were to close at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT), with exit polls to be published shortly afterwards and results expected to come in overnight.
Pledging to put “Romania first”, Simion has vowed to “restore the dignity of the Romanian people.
He has criticised what he calls the EU’s “absurd policies” and wants to cut military aid to Ukraine.
The 38-year-old comfortably topped the first round of voting on May 4, gaining close to 41 percent of the vote.
But analysts predict a very close race on Sunday for the ballot.
Whoever is elected president will have significant sway in foreign policy, including holding veto power at EU summits.
Polls suggest Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician, has managed to narrow the lead held by Simion, who was once a football hooligan.
Dan, an independent who has promised a country that is “honest”, voted in his native city Fagaras in Transylvania, central Romania.
“This is a turning point, a crucial election,” Dan said, adding that he voted “for a European direction… not for Romania’s isolation”.
He is hoping for a higher turnout than the first round’s 53 percent.
At 2:00 pm, turnout in the country of 19 million stood at close to 43 percent.
Simion said he “voted against the inequalities and injustices done to the Romanian people, against abuses and poverty”.
“I voted for our future to be decided by Romanian people and for Romanian people,” added the candidate, who has repeatedly alleged a risk of “massive fraud”.
‘Georgescu for president’
Simion voted in Mogosoaia, just outside Bucharest, together with far-right Calin Georgescu.
Georgescu was the front-runner in last year’s cancelled presidential election and has been barred from the rerun.
As the duo arrived, dozens of people, some holding flowers, shouted: “Calin Georgescu for president.”
Last year’s vote cancellation and the subsequent barring of Georgescu drew tens of thousands onto the streets to protest in sometimes violent rallies.
Top US officials have also criticised the decision to scrap last year’s ballot.
Romania’s constitutional court cancelled the election following allegations of Russian meddling — which Moscow denies — and a massive social media promotion of Georgescu.
Simion, who on Saturday took his TikTok and Facebook accounts offline to “respect the day of silence”, opened them again on Sunday
The election campaign took place in a tense atmosphere.
Last week’s surprise resignation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the collapse of his pro-European government coalition — after their candidate failed to make the runoff vote — have further raised the stakes.
The new president will have the power to appoint a new prime minister and Simion’s nationalist AUR party could enter government after negotiations on the formation of a new parliamentary majority.
The election turmoil has also increased economic uncertainty in the EU’s most indebted country, which has grappled with high inflation.
“The stakes of these elections are huge because there is widespread chaos in Romania right now after the annulment,” voter Runa Petringenaru told AFP.
“It’s unheard of here and probably nowhere else in Europe (has this happened) and we can’t wait for it to be over,” the 55-year-old workshop organiser added.
