Romania’s PM resigns after far right wins first round of presidential vote

A day after a far-right opposition leader won the first round of the rerun of the presidential election, his own candidate was eliminated.

Cabinet ministers will serve in an interim capacity until a new majority emerges following the presidential run-off, according to Ciolacu’s statement on Monday. His center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) will withdraw from the pro-Western coalition, effectively ending it.

In a May 18 run-off against Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, an independent centrist, hard-right eurosceptic George Simion will be in the endgame. He won the election on Sunday, with some 41% of the vote. Third-place finisher Crin Antonescu was the coalition candidate.

I chose to resign myself, according to Ciolacu, rather than the future president.

In a December 1 parliamentary election, Simion’s Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and two other far-right organizations, one of which had vehemently supported Russia, won more than a third of the seats.

To aid in keeping the European Union and NATO on a pro-Western trajectory, the Social Democrats had established a coalition government with the center-right Liberals and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR. Without it, the legislature can create a governing majority that disarms the far-right.

After a party meeting, Ciolacu told reporters, “This coalition is no longer legitimate.”

Prior to the meeting, Ciolacu claimed that a common candidate must be chosen in order to form the coalition.

Up until the May 18 run-off, Romania already has a temporary president. The nation faces the biggest budget deficit in the EU and is at risk of having its ratings dropped to levels where they were before.

Five months prior, a first election attempt was canceled due to alleged Russian interference in the favor of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who has since been suspended from office.

If Georgescu is elected, Simion has stated that he has the power to choose him as prime minister. The vote highlights the persistent rage that is roiling among Romania’s electorate over high living costs and security concerns.

According to political observers, a victory in the Simion could destabilize NATO’s eastern flank, where Bucharest plays a significant role in providing logistical support to Ukraine as it fights a three-year-old Russian invasion.

At a time when Europe is grappling with how to respond to US President Donald Trump, it would also increase the number of eurosceptic leaders in the EU that currently includes the Hungarian and Slovak prime ministers.

In a prerecorded speech aired on Sunday after the polls closed, Simion declared, “I am here to restore constitutional order.”

“I want normalcy, I want democracy, and I have one goal: to give back to the Romanian people what was taken from them,” he said, placing the common, sincere, and dignified people at the center of decision-making.

Simion referred to Trump’s “perfectly aligned with the MAGA movement” as Simion’s hard-right nationalist AUR party.
Following the US president’s political resumption, the “Make America Great Again” campaign capitalizes on a growing populist wave in Europe.