Hard-right candidate wins Romania’s election rerun — exit polls

Unlock the editor’s digest in free

FT editor Raula Khalaf selected his favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Hard-Right leader George Simian won the first round of Romania’s presidents SelectionAccording to the Exit Poll, and the EU supporter will face one of the two centers in the run-off vote on May 18.

According to the exit survey by CRIN, Simion won 33 percent, the joint candidate of the three central government party, Crin Antonesku, 23 percent.

Avangard’s second departure survey also placed Simion at 5 percent, but said that Antonsku had a neck and neck with a liberal, independent mayor of Bucharest, 25 percent of the capital Bucharest.

The The vote was re -re – The first round of the first round ballot was rejected by the Constitutional Court after the Ultrasonalist politician Kilin Georgesku’s victory Accusations of Russian interventionThe Simian’s ally Georgesku was subsequently forbidden to stand on a new ballot.

The cancellation of the November results was sharply criticized by US President Donald Trump’s administration, vice-president JD Vans said it was an example of failing to support the democratic independence of liberal elite in Europe.

The temporary results are expected after Sunday, a final tally will be announced on Monday morning.

Popularity For the SimianThe leader of the Nationalist Orphan, whose campaign was approved by Georgesku, is a further sign of Romanian voters’ deep isolation with mainstream political elite, which has shared power since the end of communism.

Trump Ritwing Populist Simon told FT on Sunday that if he was elected president, he would try to bring Georgesku back to the leadership position to reflect his popularity.

“In a democracy you let people decide,” Simian said. “So as a President, I can change the members of the Constitutional Court, the members of the Secret Services, so I can guarantee a fair election and I can be a mediator for the majority of parliament. We can think of him like this.”

Simian’s second round rival Simian is expected to try to form a coalition of all mainstream forces, but it may fight to do so.

“I’m not very worried about this national alliance,” Simian said. “It’s just a smoke bomb, a diversion [from the fact] That I am not extremist, hooligan, separatist that they are portraying as me. “

Before the ban on running again in March, Georgesku voted for more than 5 percent of the better. In a unity kai show, two men dropped their ballot together in Bucharest suburbs, where some supporters chanted the Georgesku slogan.

This cancellation has put Romania into a political crisis at a sensitive moment. Its credit rating aspect has recently become negative by moody. It is a serious need for reforms to fight to deal with the highest budget deficit in the EU.

The main contributor to NATO efforts to contain Russian techniques in the Black Sea is an important way for export from Ukraine and it has also offered military assistance for its neighbor.

As the vote on Sunday proceeded, a Russian hacker group claimed that several government ministries and Antonesku’s promotion pages were closed. However, the disapproval-service attack was quickly disrupted, the National Cyber ​​Protection Center said in a statement.