Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan defeats far-right rival in Romanian presidential election | World News
The centr, pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan has sustained the strong challenge from a Romanian right-wing national to win the presidential election after the country faced months of political instability.
The Romanian central election data showed Dan, who termed the election as “a pro-western and an anti-western Romania” leading with 54.2% vote share while his far-right rival George Simion, who claims to be a self-professed Trump admirer, was trailing at 45.8% vote share.
Simion, who is the leader of AUR party, dramatically won the first round of election earlier this month, riding on the wave of anger Romanians who witnessed the presidential race getting cancelled last year due to Russian intervention.
🇷🇴We will continue our fight for freedom and our great values along with other patriots, sovereigns and conservatives all over the world.
We may have lost a battle, but we will certainly not lose the war.
God bless you all ❤️! pic.twitter.com/rMYeRc2JXj
— 🇷🇴 George Simion 🇲🇩 (@georgesimion) May 18, 2025
But two-term mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, eventually prevailed in the final tally, even though Simion garnered more votes in the diaspora region. “We need to build Romania together irrespective of who you voted for,” Dan said upon his victory in the election.
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Presidential candidate George Simion, casts his vote next to Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of last year’s annulled election. (AP Photo)
Simion conceded defeat early on Monday, after claiming he had won the polls and in a post on X said, “We may have lost a battle, but we will certainly not lose the war.”
Congratulations to @NicusorDanRO on his horic victory in Romania’s presidential elections.
For Ukraine—as a neighbour and friend—it is important to have Romania as a reliable partner. And we are confident we will. working together, we can strengthen both our countries and…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 18, 2025
Dan celebrated his win stating that voters seeking “profound change, functioning state institutions, less corruption, a prosperous economy and a society of dialogue, not hate, have won”.
The electoral data revealed that more than 11.6 million people exercised their voting rights on Sunday in Romanian presidential elections, and Dan was able to attract the support of more than six million people.
As soon as the results confirmed that Dan had secured a victory with a comfortable majority in the presidential run-off, his supporters cheered and started chanting his name as it was a huge moment for the president-elect and his supporters after months of political turbulence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Dan on his victory and said “For Ukraine – as a neighbour and friend – it is important to have Romania as a reliable partner.”
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