Nicusor Dan leads in decisive runoff of Romania's presidential election

Romanian exit polls predict independent candidate Nicusor Dan in the lead with about 54% of the vote and far-right candidate George Simion with about 45%, in a surprise Romanian presidential election that has shocked and polarized the country.

However, everything is still up for grabs due to the projection nature of exit polls and the unprecedented diaspora vote, which is not included in these projections and could therefore decide the race in which over 11 million Romanians voted (64% turnout).

Avangarde predicts that Dan will win 54,9% of the votes and Simion 45,0%, while Curs predicts that Dan will win 54,10% and Simion 45,9%. The margin of error is 2%, reports Telegrafi.

According to national exit poll projections by pollsters Avangarde and Curs, published by Euronews Romania, the eastern NATO-flank country elected the pro-EU and pro-NATO candidate in a massive turnout marked by fear and discontent, overturning Simion's lead in the first round.

But the voting trend of the last few hours could still affect these predictions, setting the stage for a dramatic election night in what most Romanians see as the most important vote in their post-communist history.

Also, the relativity of exit poll predictions in previous elections, another sign of the fierce presidential election battle in fiercely polarized Romania, means that the official count and results of diaspora votes will now include Romania for the next few hours until the final official result is announced.

Sociologists at Avangarde pollsters noted a higher voter turnout in large cities, which tend to favor Dan, and a lower turnout in villages and smaller towns, where the major party electorate does not have a candidate.

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Meanwhile, both candidates declared victory on Sunday evening while awaiting the official count.

"From tomorrow, all together, let's start rebuilding Romania. Romania will go through a difficult moment, let's remember the strength of our nation," Dan said.

Meanwhile, Simion declared himself the "new president of Romania" at his party's rally at the Romanian parliament in Bucharest.

"We are the clear winners of these elections. We claim victory on behalf of the Romanian people. It is the victory of the humiliated Romanian people," he said.

"It doesn't matter which side each of us was on in this election, this is democracy, now we have to shake hands," he added.

In the final hours of voting, the Romanian foreign, interior and defense ministries denounced what they called "Russian interference," warning voters of a fake news campaign launched on Telegram, TikTok and other social media platforms.

Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Tarnea said on Sunday that "once again we see the hallmarks of Russian interference to influence the electoral process, this was expected."

In a coordinated move, the three ministries revealed that a fake video released on Sunday “falsely claiming that French troops in Romania are secretly wearing Romanian gendarmerie uniforms to intervene inside the country” has been directly linked to Russia.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed that he rejected a request from "a Western country," which he did not name, to "silence" conservative voices in Romania.

"Telegram will not limit the freedoms of Romanian users, nor will it block their political channels," Durov said. /Telegram/