Pro-Western candidate Nicușor Dan wins Romania's presidential election

Pro-Western independent candidate Nicusor Dan made a dramatic comeback on Sunday to win the Romanian presidential election with a total of 54% of the vote.

While far-right candidate George Simion, with 46% of the vote, initially refused to accept defeat, but then relented, congratulating Dan on his victory late Sunday evening.

"It's a bitter feeling, but these elections are just the beginning," said Simion, congratulating his opponent, foreign media wrote, according to Telegraph.

Romanians have chosen to continue their current pro-Western course by turning out in record numbers to vote for the mayor of Bucharest and against the nationalist doctrines represented by Simion and his ally Calin Georgescu.

But the deep divisions in the fractured Romanian society, represented by the small margin in the votes, mean that incoming President Dan faces a major challenge in reuniting the country and dealing with the economic turmoil gripping Romania.

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Romania's elections bring considerable relief to the EU, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova, at a crucial time for all, also because President-elect Dan will work with the current pro-Western majority in parliament.

Campaigning on an anti-corruption and reformist platform, pledging honesty and dignity, Dan not only defeated the far-right Simion, but also the entire Romanian political establishment in two rounds of presidential re-election, after the Constitutional Court annulled the previous presidential vote held in November and December 2024, triggering an unprecedented and destabilizing political crisis.

Dan's campaign also received a boost in the only national presidential debate organized by Euronews Romania, which was seen as the turning point of the political battle for the presidency. /Telegraph/