Ukraine critic wins first round of Romanian presidential election rerun

Right-wing George Simion is leading in the polls with more than 40% of the votes

George Simion, a critic of the EU who has been banned from entering Ukraine, won the first round of the rerun of the Romanian presidential election on Sunday.

With more than 95% of the ballots counted, Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), received 40.52% of the votes, according to the news website G4 Media.

Former senator Crin Antonescu and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, both known for pro-EU views, each received a little over 20% of the votes.

“This is not just an electoral victory, it is a victory of Romanian dignity. It is the victory of those who have not lost hope, of those who still believe in Romania, a free, respected, sovereign country,” Simion said, according to Reuters.

The vote took place after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results of the election held in November, in which independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu received 23% of the votes. The court cited “irregularities” in Georgescu’s campaign, as well as intelligence reports claiming Russian meddling. Moscow rejected the claims of interference as “anti-Russia hysteria.”

In March, Georgescu was barred by the Central Electoral Bureau from running again, citing his alleged “anti-democratic” and “extremist” stance, as well as a failure to comply with electoral procedures. On Sunday, Georgescu and Simion arrived at a polling station together. “We are here with a single mission: to restore constitutional order and democracy,” Simion told reporters.

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In November 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that Simion had been blacklisted for his “systematic anti-Ukrainian activities, which contradict the national interests of Ukraine and violate its state sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Simion argued that he was targeted because of his “promotion of historical truth” among the Romanian minority in western Ukraine. He was also banned from entering neighboring Moldova, which he labeled “an artificial country” that “will never join the European Union.”

Simion has opposed the delivery of weapons to Kiev. “We will not send military aid to Ukraine, and that doesn’t make us pro-Russian,” he told reporters last year.

He also criticized EU bureaucrats. “The EU is a remarkable project that brought peace to Europe after centuries of war, but Brussels has become a greedy and corrupt bubble,” Simion said.