The first round of Romania's presidential election — a rerun of the annulled 2024 poll — will take place on May 4. The vote is seen as a test of Romania's democratic resilience and alignment with EU and NATO values.
00:01This is Bucharest, the capital of Romania, a democratic country in Southeast Europe
00:06and one of the largest member states of the European Union.
00:10Romania has been a NATO member for over two decades
00:13and hosts one of the alliance's largest military bases in Europe.
00:17Romania goes to the polls on May 4 for the first round of its presidential election.
00:22The vote is seen by many as a test of the country's democratic resilience.
00:27But why?
00:29The first round of the presidential election that took place last November
00:33was annulled by the Constitutional Court of Romania
00:36after intelligence reports indicated that there had been significant Russian interference,
00:42particularly through social media platforms such as TikTok,
00:45that propelled far-right candidate Colleen Georgescu into first place.
00:50Georgescu was banned from the rerun and is now under investigation for multiple offences.
00:56But his exclusion does not mean that there will be no extremists in Sunday's poll.
01:02I think everybody's tired because this is like a never-ending telenovela in continuous mode since November, December.
01:11And we have to close this by mid-May and resume.
01:14I wouldn't necessarily say normalcy because our country has changed quite a lot in the past one year and a half of so many elections.
01:20But the lease resumes some sense of planning, some sense of public policies, government, you know,
01:25and we have a lot of catching up in terms of image and influence abroad.
01:29The main contenders are four men and a woman.
01:33Polls currently see 38-year-old Georges Simeon as a front-runner.
01:38Simeon is leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR.
01:42His platform is characterized by nationalism, euroskepticism, and opposition to continued military aid for Ukraine.
01:50Experts expect that many of the people who would have voted for Georgescu will now cast their vote for Simeon, whose message has been quite contradictory in recent months.
02:00In the run-up to the rerun, the AUR leader has changed his rhetoric, getting closer to the Trump MAGA movement and labeling Putin a threat.
02:09Simeon's popularity is puzzling, as the latest opinion poll shows that over 87.5% of Romanians are in favor of EU and NATO membership.
02:20Other polls indicate that he will reach the second round.
02:24Were he to be elected president, analysts say, his victory would rattle the country's economy and its relationship with its Western allies.
02:32In contrast, centrist independent candidate Nikushar Dunn, mayor of Bucharest, advocates for increased defense spending and continued support for Ukraine, aligning with EU and NATO policies.
02:46Dunn hopes to reach the run-off on May 18 and is mostly supported by voters in larger cities, including the capital Bucharest.
02:54Klin Antunescu, former president of the National Liberal Party, has reappeared on the political stage after about a decade of political inactivity.
03:03He is running as an independent candidate, but has the backing of Romania's pro-European ruling coalition.
03:09But Antunescu is not the only bold return to Romania's political stage.
03:14Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta is a social democrat with nationalist and sovereignist views.
03:20Ponta is running as an independent candidate.
03:23In a nod to US President Donald Trump, he has worn a red hat with the message, Romania first.
03:30Ponta's candidacy has been overshadowed by controversy.
03:33He was forced to resign in November 2015, following massive protests sparked by a deadly fire in a club in Bucharest.
03:41And finally, Elena Lasconi, leader of the Save Romania Union.
03:45Lasconi, a 53-year-old former journalist, was set to take part in last year's cancelled run-off with Colleen Georgescu.
03:53Her candidacy has been further complicated by the fact that her party withdrew its support for her just weeks before the rerun.
04:01It now backs Mayor of Bucharest, Nicușor Dan.
04:04The party says that it did so to avoid splitting the pro-European vote.
04:10Romania's presidential election is taking place amid an atmosphere of uncertainty.
04:15Adding to the complexity of the situation is a surge in online disinformation spreading via social media.
04:22The stakes in this election are high.
04:25The outcome will not only determine the country's president, but also its commitment to democratic values
04:32and its position within the European and transatlantic communities.
