Romania's newly elected president officially sworn in, but challenges loom amid political crisis

The legitimacy of the election to pick Romania’s next president remains cast in doubt after one nationalist would-be favorite was arrested and charges of election interference were rejected by the country’s top court.

According to official results, pro-European Union centrist Nicusor Dan won a surprise victory over the favorite, conservative George Simion, garnering nearly 54% of the vote. But the outcome isn’t as simple or clear as it may seem.

Romania, a former member of the Soviet Union’s communist bloc, is now a member of the European Union and NATO.

The months-long presidential election process in Romania, which was seen by many as a barometer of the resilience of the growing reach of nationalist movements in Europe, has been marred by unexpected twists and strange irregularities.

Late last year, “Romania First” candidate Calin Georgescu – who has claimed the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are hoaxes – finished first in a six-candidate field during an initial round of voting. 

Historically, the top two vote-getters would face each other in a run-off, but the results of that first round were annulled amid charges of Russian election tampering.

A new first round was scheduled for May 4. But as Georgescu, the presumed favorite who had been lauded by President Donald Trump, waited to formally register his candidacy, he was arrested on charges of inaccurate financing reports and running afoul of anti-fascism rules.

With Georgescu out of the race, Simion, who told Trump ally Steve Bannon he was being targeted for assassination by globalists and who wanted to end Romanian aid to nearby Ukraine, easily finished first in the May 4 first round – with 41% of the vote compared to 21 percent for Dan, a childhood mathematics prodigy who was the low-key mayor of Bucharest, the Romanian capital.

At one point, as votes were being counted May 18, Simion declared victory before backtracking. When the vote totals were released the following day, Dan was declared the victor, with 53.6%, compared to 46.4% for Simion, who immediately cried foul.

Simion provided the Romanian Constitutional Court with what he said was evidence that France and Moldova, a small country wedged between Romania and Ukraine, had interfered on Dan’s behalf. But the court unanimously rejected the claims as unfounded.

“The Constitutional Court has continued the coup d’etat by rejecting our appeal,” Simion said after the court’s findings were released. “The only thing left for us is to keep fighting.”

Dan was formally sworn into office Monday, but Simion’s supporters can still make it difficult for him, starting with working to block his choice to be prime minister, which in Romania oversees the government’s day-to-day operations under the president’s auspices.

The fires were further fanned after a doctored video that appeared to be from Euronews made the rounds on social media alleging that Romania had formally protested against France for election tampering. The video was based on footage of Romania’s warnings against Russia dating to last year.

For its part, the government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an English-language post, blamed Moscow for the bogus video.

“The fake ‘Euronews’ article is in itself a standard of the Russian hybrid toolkit,” the ministry said on X. “It belongs to a known set of tactics, techniques and procedures.”

At least for now, mainstream European leaders breathed a sigh of relief at the victory for Dan, who promised Romania would continue to back European Union integration and support Ukraine in its war against Russia. 

European leaders ranging from France’s Emmanuel Maron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Tusk were among the many who were quick to congratulate him.

There were no formal congratulations from the White House. But Dan took the first step, thanking Trump for his “strong leadership and commitment to the Romania-United States relationship.”

He concluded, “Our countries are bound by decades of cooperation, underpinned by common values and shared interests.”