Pro-western mayor Dan takes early lead in presidential election runoff
Mr Dan, the incumbent mayor of Bucharest, is taking on hard-right nationalist George Simion in a vote that could determine the geopolitical direction of the Nato member country.
The vote was held months after the cancellation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.
After 2.8 million votes had been counted, Mr Simion was ahead by a whisker with 50.09%, while votes for Mr Dan stood at 49.91%, according to official data.
When voting closed at 9pm (7pm UK time), 11.6 million people – or about 64% of eligible voters – had cast ballots, according to official electoral data.
About 1.64 million Romanians abroad, who have been able to vote since Friday at specially set-up polling stations, participated in the vote.
After polls closed on Sunday, Mr Dan told the media that 'elections are not about politicians' but about communities and that in Sunday's vote, 'a community of Romanians has won, a community that wants a profound change in Romania'.
'When Romania goes through difficult times, let us remember the strength of this Romanian society,' he said. 'There is also a community that lost today's elections. A community that is rightly outraged by the way politics has been conducted in Romania up to now.'
Turnout was significantly higher in Sunday's runoff and is expected to play a decisive role in the outcome. In the first round on May 4, final turnout stood at 9.5 million, or 53% of eligible voters.
Romania's political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election in which far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.
Standing on the steps of Romania's colossal Communist-era parliament building after polls closed, Mr Simion predicted a significant victory over his opponent, which he called a 'victory of the Romanian people'.
Mr Simion said that Mr Georgescu was 'supposed to be the president' before last year's election was annulled. He also called for vigilance against election fraud, but said that overall he was satisfied with the conduct of the vote.
Shortly after 6pm, Romania's ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Andrei Tarnea said in a post on X that the election was subject to a 'viral campaign of fake news' on the Telegram messaging app and other social media platforms, which tried to influence the electoral process and had 'the hallmarks of Russian interference'.
Networks of co-ordinated disinformation have emerged as a pervasive force throughout Romania's entire election cycle. Romanian authorities debunked the deluge of fake news, Mr Tarnea said.
Mr Simion appeared alongside Mr Georgescu at a Bucharest polling station on Sunday and told reporters that he voted against the 'humiliations to which our sisters and brothers have been subjected'.
'We voted against abuses and against poverty,' he said. 'I voted for our future to be decided only by Romanians, for Romanians and Romania. So help us God.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Putin's 'secret daughter' works at anti-war art galleries in European capital
The Kremlin has never commented on the alleged links between Elizaveta Krivonogikh, born in 2003, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite others noting their resemblance Vladimir Putin's alleged secret daughter is reportedly working at art galleries in Paris that show exhibitions denouncing her father's war in Ukraine. Elizaveta Krivonogikh, 22, who is also known as Luiza Rozova and now Elizaveta Rudnova, is said to be schmoozing with Ukrainian artists as well as Russia dissidents in the heart of France's capital. She is reportedly working at L Galerie in Belleville and Espace Albatros in Montreuil. News outlet Meduza cites a Russian artist claiming both galleries are known for exhibiting anti-war work. Her gallery manager role also includes making videos that have sparked ire among exiled Russians and Ukrainians. Commenting online, artist Nastya Rodionova - who fled Russia following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - said: "It's important to say that I believe in the presumption of innocence and that children are not responsible for the crimes of their parents. "But with the war reaching its heights it is inadmissible to allow a person who comes from a family of beneficiaries of [Putin's] regime to come into confrontation with the victims of that regime. We need to know who we are working with and decide whether we are ready for that. My personal answer in this case is no." But Dmitry Dolinsky, the director of L Association that controls Studio Albatros and L Galerie, backed Elizaveta's role and cast doubt over whether she is actually Putin's daughter. Speaking to The Times, he said: "She looks like Putin but so do 100,000 other people. I haven't seen a DNA test." She has also been praised as a "cultured person" and an "excellent worker". However, some like Nastya say victims of the war should not feel forced to share a space with anyone with connections to the regime. Elisaveta's mum, Svetlana Krivonogikh, was sanctioned by the Conservative government in 2023. She is thought to own £73m worth of properties. Elizaveta ditched social media just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine but previously shared snaps of her glitzy lifestyle. Ukrainian TV claimed she lived in Paris with a passport under the name Rudnova. The Kremlin as never spoken about alleged ties between her and Putin, nor has Elizaveta publicly confirmed a link to the Russian despot. Putin has only acknowledged his daughters Maria and Katerina from his marriage to Lyudmila Putina, who he had been married to until 2014. He is rumoured to have more children, including sons with the former gymnast Alina Kabaeva.
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
A top Taliban official offers amnesty to Afghans who fled the country and urges them to return
A top Taliban official said on Saturday that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would not be harmed if they come back. Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the 'Feast of Sacrifice.' The offer comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a sweeping travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The measure largely bars Afghans hoping to resettle in the United States permanently as well as those hoping to go to the U.S. temporarily, such as for university study. Trump also suspended a core refugee program in January, all but ending support for Afghans who had allied with the U.S. and leaving tens of thousands of them stranded. Afghans in neighboring Pakistan who are awaiting resettlement are also dealing with a deportation drive by the Islamabad government to get them out of the country. Almost a million have left Pakistan since October 2023 to avoid arrest and expulsion. Akhund's holiday message was posted on the social platform X. 'Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,' he said. 'Nobody will harm them.' 'Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,' he added, and instructed officials to properly manage services for returning refugees and to ensure they were given shelter and support. He also used the occasion to criticize the media for making what he said were 'false judgements' about Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and their policies. 'We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,' he said. 'The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimize the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.' The Taliban swept into the capital Kabul and seized most of Afghanistan in a blitz in mid-August 2021 as the U.S. and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. The offensive prompted a mass exodus, with tens of thousands of Afghans thronging the airport in chaotic scenes, hoping for a flight out on the U.S. military airlift. People also fled across the border, to neighboring Iran and Pakistan. Among those escaping the new Taliban rulers were also former government officials, journalists, activists, those who had helped the U.S. during its campaign against the Taliban.
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia's Africa Corps to remain
The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country. Despite Wagner's announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. 'Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,' the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders. Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner. Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry. According to U.S. officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps. Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force. 'Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,' Ochieng said. Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians. Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army. In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span. The announcement of Wagner's withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the al-Qaida linked group JNIM in recent weeks. Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali. Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner's mission. 'The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,' he said. Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia's focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. 'Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the 'Rambo-type' Wagner mercenaries,' Laessing said.
