Romania. Presidential elections. Voting results

Data from the Permanent Electoral Office show that Calin Georgescu received 22 percent support after counting votes from almost 93 percent of the commission.

Georgescu w polls before the elections, he was initially outside the circle of favorites. In the last study on Friday, he placed fourth.

In second place with a result of about 21 percent is Marcel Ciolacu, the current prime minister and head of the post-communist Social Democratic Party PSD, who went into the elections confident of his first result, also predicted by the polls exit poll on election day.

Third place is occupied by Elena Lasconi, the center-right leader of the Salvation Union Romania (17 percent), followed by George Simion, leader of the radical conservative national party AUR (14 percent).

The Romanian media are surprised by the results of the first round of elections, and almost every website published an article titled: “Who is Calin Georgescu?”

According to the media, a very intense campaign on social media, primarily on TikTok, undoubtedly contributed to this candidate's electoral success. – Political strategists analyzed and designed political life, but they did not understand that it is impossible to control the Internet – said one Romanian journalist on election night.

According to commentators, Georgescu's result is primarily a voice of disappointment with the political class and an expression of protest, not only against “mainstream” parties, but even those that position themselves as those fighting the system. Georgescu overtook George Simion, a far-right populist from the AUR (Union of Romanians) party, described by the authorities as an “extremist”. His views are even more radical than those represented by Simion.

Georgescu and the AUR leader allegedly parted ways after the former publicly called Hitler's ally Marshal Ion Antonescu and the creator of the fascist and anti-Semitic Iron Guard, Zelea Condreanu, “heroes”.

Georgescu criticized NATO and the anti-missile shield in Romania's Deveselu, he said that NATO would not defend Romania or any of its member countries. The media note that in pre-election interviews Georgescu, who is accused of pro-Russian views (after the invasion Russia on Ukraine he said that Vladimir Putin “he loves his country very much and is surrounded by professionals”), refused to answer the question whether he admired the Russian leader accused of war crimes.

Neither pre-election polls nor the results of exit polls conducted during Sunday's vote predicted high support for Georgescu. The latter showed that Marcel Ciolacu (25%) and Elena Lasconi, leader of the center-right AUR party (18%), had a chance of entering the second round. Georgescu was in third place with 16%, followed by Simion (14-15% depending on the poll).

Calin Georgescu he ran as an independent candidate. He is a former member of AUR (Union for the Unity of Romanians) famous for his controversies and pro-Russian narrative.

– This is a huge surprise, because the polls gave Georgescu from 4 percent to 10 percent. Meanwhile, he overtook the leader of the radical right-wing party AUR (Union of the Unity of Romanians), who was a strong contender for the second round, said Kamil Całus from the Center for Eastern Studies.

The high result of another anti-system candidate caused concern among Romanian experts and the media. – This means that populist and anti-system forces, represented by Simion and Georgescu, have a total of at least 30 percent of the votes. In addition, there is the even more radical Diana Sosoaca, who was not allowed to run for president by the Constitutional Court – commented Romanian journalists.

He came in third place George Simon – the leader of the radical right-wing AUR party, who announced during the campaign that he would “end military aid to Ukraine.” A politician who grew up on the slogans of joining Moldova to Romania, is banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine because his actions are perceived by these countries as a threat to their sovereignty. Simion denies accusations of pro-Russianism.

She only came fourth Elena Lasconi – chairwoman of the center-right party USR (Union for the Salvation of Romania). She proved herself as the mayor of the city of Campulung, and her previous work as a television reporter made her more recognizable. During the campaign, she was criticized for her lack of knowledge and mistakes in her statements about foreign policy.

14 candidates took part in the presidential elections. These are the head of the PSD Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the National Liberal Party, former Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, the head of the USR (Union for the Salvation of Romania) Elena Lasconi, the head of the radical right-wing AUR party (Union for the Unity of Romanians) George Simion, the head of the Hungarian minority party Hunor Kelemen, Alexandra Pacuraru (Alternative Party of National Dignity), Sebastian-Constantin Popescu (New Romania Party), Cristian Terhes (Romanian National Conservative Party), Silviu Predoiu (National Action League Party), Ludovic Orban (Power of the Right). The latter candidate withdrew from the run in favor of Elena Lasconi.

Pre-election polls gave five candidates the greatest chance of entering the second round. In addition to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, these included George Simion, Elena Lasconi, Nicolae Ciuca, another former prime minister and leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), and independent candidate Mircea Geoana. Unexpectedly, however, Calin Georgescu, famous for his controversy, appeared at the beginning of the field.

The second round of elections will take place on December 8. Parliamentary elections will be held in Romania next week on Sunday.