After ten years of presidency of Klaus Iohannis, fervent supporter of kyiv and tireless advocate of European values, this election carries heavy stakes, in particular because the polls give the favorite far-right candidate.
Romanians are called to the polls on Sunday for the first round of the presidential election in a tense social climate which could favor the far-right candidate.
Among the 13 candidates, the leader of the AUR (Alliance for the Unity of Romanians) party George Simion, 38, appears in a position to qualify for the second round, according to polls which credit him with 15 to 19%, against some 25% for the favorite, the current Social Democratic Prime Minister (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu, 56 years old.
With his passionate speech with mystical and conspiratorial overtones, Mr. Simion capitalized, according to experts, on the anger of Romanians impoverished by record inflation (10% last year, 5.5% forecast in 2024). His accession to the second round scheduled for December 8 would be a thunderclap in this loyal EU and NATO member state of 19 million inhabitants which has so far resisted nationalist postures, distancing itself from Hungary or of Slovakia.
A Trump fan
«I'm really afraid that we end up with Simion» on the evening of the election, testifies in the streets of Bucharest Oana Diaconu, a 36-year-old computer scientist, worrying about his unpredictable nature and his diatribes against the EU. Polling stations open at 7:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) and close at 9:00 p.m. Exit polls are expected soon after.
This election carries heavy stakes, even if the position of president is essentially ceremonial. Romania, sharing a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine and bordered by the Black Sea, plays a strategic role “vital», recalls in a study the think tank New Strategy Center. Both for NATO, of which it houses more than 5,000 soldiers, and for the transit of Ukrainian cereals.
«Romanian democracy in danger for the first time since the fall of communism in 1989», Analyzes political scientist Cristian Parvulescu for AFP. With “a situation that has become complicated» since Donald Trump's victory in the American elections.
George Simion, sometimes wearing a red cap with the Trump logo, does not hide his admiration for the billionaire and hopes to take advantage of this favorable wind for ultra-conservative currents. He is particularly against any military aid to kyiv which banned him for his activities “anti-Ukrainian“, against “the corrupted bubble» of Brussels, or even the rights of LGBT+. The official ticks all the boxes of an illiberal and nationalist policy, advocating a Romania “more patriotic».
The other candidates
Despite a low popularity rating, Marcel Ciolacu, keen to project the image of a humble and self-taught man, hopes to convince with his message of “stability“. His party, heir to the former Communist Party, has structured the country's political life for more than three decades amid multiple corruption scandals and currently governs in coalition with the liberal PNL.
In third position in the polls is Elena Lasconi, 52, a former journalist and mayor of a small town at the head of a center-right party, which could create a surprise.
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