Centrist Nicușor Dan is Romania’s new president. Brussels: “Europe won.”

Brussels – In the aftermath of the Super Sunday elections, with the polls open in Romania, Poland, and Portugal, the European Union can breathe a sigh of relief. In all three member countries, the sovereignist threat was averted. In particular, the eyes of Brussels were on the presidential elections in Bucharest and the runoff between the capital’s mayor, Nicușor Dan, and the far-right candidate, George Simion, who had overwhelmingly won in the first round. With 54 percent of the vote, Dan won, and Simion conceded defeat, thus giving a happy ending to an interminable political saga that began last November.

The stakes in the country, nestled between the Balkans and the Black Sea, which shares a more than 500-kilometer border with Ukraine, were high. For the EU, the risk was that it would find itself with another nationalist, Trump-like, pro-Russian leader to negotiate with at the European Council table. In addition, by formally opening an investigation into TikTok, Brussels essentially embraced the decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court — on December 6 — to annul the surprise victory of the far-right independent candidate Călin Georgescu due to heavy Russian interference and paved the way for a rerun of the presidential elections. A victory by Simion, to whom Georgescu passed the baton after being ousted from the race, would have fomented the sovereignist campaign against “undemocratic” and “tyrannical” European institutions.

The path seemed compromised after Simion’s landslide victory at the first round on May 4, in which the leader of the radical right-wing AUR party garnered nearly 41 percent of the vote, doubling Dan. Instead, Romanian voters decided otherwise. Thanks to massive turnout — with voter turnout rising from 53 percent in the first round to 65 percent in the second round — and despite the lack of endorsement from the Social Democratic Party, the mayor of Bucharest completed his comeback by edging out Simion by 8 percentage points.

“Voters who demand profound change, functioning state institutions, less corruption, a prosperous economy, and a society based on dialogue, not hatred won,” said the 55-year-old centrist politician and mathematician, already in his second term as the capital’s first citizen, where he has made a name for himself by fighting corruption in the real estate market. On the other hand, the AUR leader and vice president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party, after an initial moment when he rejected the outcome of the polls and proclaimed himself president, admitted defeat this morning and congratulated his opponent. In a video on his social channels, Simion said, “We will continue our fight for freedom and great values together with other Patriots, Sovereignists, and Conservatives worldwide. We may have lost a battle, but we certainly have not lost the war.”

Brussels: “Romania has chosen Europe.” Zelensky also exults

Top leaders of European institutions have wished the new president well, who, among other things, will have to quickly appoint a new prime minister to fill the power vacuum created by the resignation of social democratic premier Marcel Ciolacu. “The Romanian people have turned out massively to the polls. They have chosen the promise of an open, prosperous Romania in a strong Europe. Together let’s deliver on that promise,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on her X account. In the same vein Antonio Costa, who chairs the European Council, said Dan’s victory “is a strong signal of the Romanians’ attachment to the European project.”

Volodymyr Zelensky must also have broken out in a cold sweat, aware of the risk that another Kremlin Trojan horse could creep to the table of European leaders, capable of weakening Brussels’ support for Kyiv’s resistance. Ukraine’s president congratulated Dan on his “historic victory” and stressed that “for Ukraine, as a neighbor and friend, it is important to have Romania as a reliable partner.”

This morning, reactions also came from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to whom “Romania has reaffirmed its commitment to a strong and secure Europe,” and from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, former president of the ECR and “role model” for the defeated far-right leader. “I am confident that we can build constructive cooperation to strengthen bilateral cooperation between our nations and with the common goal of promoting peace, stability, and prosperity for our peoples and Europe,” Meloni wrote on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron had already called Dan last night to congratulate him on his victory. “I have assured President Macron that we will continue to be trusted partners within the European Union and that in the coming days, we will have substantive discussions about our common future and the security of the European Union,” the newly elected president wrote on the sidelines of the Elysee exchange.

My warmest congratulations to @NicusorDanRO on his victory tonight!

The Romanian people have turned out massively to the polls.

They have chosen the promise of an open, prosperous Romania in a strong Europe.

Together let’s deliver on that promise.

Looking forward to working…

– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 18, 2025