• The 4 May elections follow the annulment of last November's vote due to alleged Russian interference.
• George Simion, candidate of the ultranationalist party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, won with 40.96 per cent of the vote.
• On 18 May he will face Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in a runoff, backed by a pro-European coalition.

On 4 May 2025, Romania held the first round of its presidential elections. The vote came after the annulment of last November's ballot, which had seen far-right extremist Călin Georgescu come out on top, only to be subsequently barred from the new elections due to Russian interference. The latest vote has now seen the decisive victory of George Simion, leader of the ultranationalist far-right party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), with 40.96 per cent of the vote. On 18 May he will face Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in a runoff, who leads a coalition aligned with the European Union. Simion's emphatic victory has deeply shaken the national and international political landscape and prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Romania's turbulent year

In the presidential elections of 24 November, Călin Georgescu, backed by the far-right party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, came first with 22.3 per cent of the vote, advancing to the runoff on 8 December. Romanian electoral law stipulates that the presidency goes to the candidate who obtains at least 50 per cent of the vote. If no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round is held between the top two finishers — in the case of the last elections, Georgescu and Elena Lasconi, leader of the centre-right party Save Romania Union (USR).

On 6 December, the first-round result was annulled by the Constitutional Court, due to alleged Russian interference through disinformation campaigns on platforms such as TikTok, which were said to have favoured his candidacy. The Court's judges also flagged irregularities in the financing of his electoral campaign. The Constitutional Court's decision to annul the election results sparked widespread protests across the country and was also challenged by some of Georgescu's political rivals, as well as by international analysts specialising in electoral systems.

The new elections were set for 4 May, but in March Georgescu was definitively barred from the presidential race due to ongoing criminal investigations related to the financing of his campaign. The Alliance for the Unity of Romanians' new candidate thus became George Simion.

The 4 May elections

The 4 May elections recorded a turnout of 53.21 per cent. The overwhelming winner was George Simion, who obtained 40.96 per cent of the vote — nearly double what his predecessor candidate Georgescu had received in the November elections, which were subsequently annulled. Nicușor Dan, mayor of Bucharest and backed by a coalition of pro-European parties, reached 20.99 per cent of the vote. Crin Antonescu, the governing coalition's candidate, stopped at 20.18 per cent and was thus eliminated from the runoff scheduled for 18 May.

Simion's victory had immediate repercussions on domestic politics. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu submitted his resignation, declaring that the governing coalition between the centre-right and centre-left had lost its legitimacy and announcing its dissolution. The acting president, Ilie Bolojan, appointed Catalin Predoiu, president of the National Liberal Party — which had been part of the governing coalition and had already held the role twice before — as prime minister. The possible election of Simion to the Romanian presidency could mark a turning point in the country's foreign policy, with knock-on effects for Europe. Analysts fear a drawing closer to Russia and a weakening of support for Ukraine, while his Eurosceptic stance could negatively affect relations with the European Union and the stability of Nato.