EU leaders relieved after centrist Dan wins Romanian presidency

The Star

19-05-2025

Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan speaks as he reacts to exit polls of Romania's second round of the presidential election, in Bucharest, Romania, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's European allies and markets welcomed centrist Nicusor Dan's presidential election victory over the eurosceptic hard-right on Sunday, relieved that the European Union member avoided a lurch to a Donald Trump-inspired political path.
Dan, a softly-spoken 55-year-old mathematician and Bucharest mayor, won 54% of votes in the country of 19 million, beating rival George Simion, a vocal Trump admirer whose strong showing in the first round of voting this month had rattled allies and investors.
On Monday, the leu gained more than 1% after shedding as much as 3% this month in the run up to the election and Romania's euro-denominated bonds rallied.
Dan had campaigned on a pledge to fight corruption, maintain support for Ukraine - where Romania has played an important logistical role - and keep the country firmly within the European mainstream.
In contrast, Simion, a 38-year-old nationalist, had been critical of EU leadership and opposed military aid to Ukraine, and his strong position before Sunday's run-off had caused the collapse of Romania's pro-Western coalition government.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was one of the first to congratulate Dan.
"The Romanian people have turned out massively to the polls," she said on X. "They have chosen the promise of an open, prosperous Romania in a strong Europe."
Echoing that, European Council President Antonio Costa said he welcomed working with Dan.
"From city hall to the table of the European Council," he said. "This is a strong signal of Romanians' attachment to the European project."
Neighbouring Moldova's President Maia Sandu called the result "a step forward for democratic values and our shared European path."
After years of rising nationalist sentiment in Europe, the EU was increasingly uneasy about the prospect of a shift to the hard-right in Romania. Analysts had said victory for Simion would have risked isolating Romania abroad and destabilising NATO's eastern flank.
Donald Tusk, prime minister in Poland where centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and nationalist Karol Nawrocki will face off in a presidential election on June 1, applauded the result, as did French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"Despite numerous attempts at manipulation, Romanians tonight chose democracy, the rule of law, and the European Union," Macron said on X, in Romanian.
The election took place nearly six months after the initial ballot was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference - denied by Moscow - in favour of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who was banned from standing again.
Russian-born Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, accused the head of France's foreign intelligence agency of asking him to ban Romanian conservative voices ahead of the election, adding he refused the request. The intelligence agency denied the allegations.
Asked about Durov's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was not news that European states such as France, Britain and Germany interfered in the affairs of other countries and said that the vote's conduct had been "strange, to say the least", state news agency TASS reported.
Analyst Radu Magdin said Dan's contrast to Simion's bluster helped as the campaign drew to a close and he would pursue a common sense foreign policy.
"He will cultivate the Trump administration as much as possible while remaining a staunch European," Magdin said.
(Reporting by Elizaveta Gladun, Malgorzata Wojtunik, Krisztina Fenyo; Editing by Jason Hovet, Alexandra Hudson)