Romanians elect pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan as new president

Nicușor Dan, the pro-European mayor of Bucharest, has been elected president of Romania following a dramatic and closely-watched electoral campaign.

After finishing second in the first round of voting on 4 May with 20.99 percent of the vote, Dan made a remarkable comeback in the runoff on Sunday (18 May), securing 53.6 percent of the vote to defeat far-right nationalist George Simion.

Simion was threatening Romania’s future in the EU and Nato, challenging current relations with the West and saying Romania under him would cut off help to Ukraine. 

Right after the partial results of the elections were announced, large crowds of supporters gathered in front of the Bucharest City Hall, chanting “Unity”. 

"What you did as a society was extraordinary. Romania begins a new stage as of tomorrow and will need each of you. We need to build Romania together, irrespective of who you voted for," Dan told them.

Dan, 55, is a mathematician and the mayor of the capital of Bucharest since 2000. Although he ran as an independent, he was supported by the centrist political party Uniunea Salvați România (USR), affiliated with Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.

He is committed to keeping Romania in the EU and Nato and he has expressed strong support for Ukraine. Domestically, Dan's positions reflect a blend of traditional and progressive values. He is also in favour of the traditional family, but he has taken a pro-choice stand on reproductive rights. 

On Sunday night, Dan received the swift congratulations of EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen and of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, among others. 

Macron stressed that "despite numerous attempts at manipulation, Romanians tonight chose democracy, the rule of law and the European Union" and promised that France would stand by Romania's side.

Socialists call for unity

In the past two weeks, as far-right attacks intensified across Europe, Nicușor Dan received broad support from nearly all pro-European political groups in Brussels.

However, in Romania, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) withheld its endorsement after its own candidate, Crin Antonescu, failed to advance beyond the first round of the presidential election.

This is largely due to Dan representing a considerable departure from the way the country has been run so far, one dominated for decades by PSD.

The former prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, of the PSD, who resigned after the first round of the presidential election, only expressed support for Dan after the final outcome was confirmed.

In a Facebook post, he also encouraged Dan to “unite the nation” — a sign widely interpreted as a signal that PSD expects Dan to now appoint a social-democrat prime minister.

With PSD holding around 26 percent of seats in the chamber of deputies and 27 percent in the senate, the party remains a major force in parliament.

As a result, despite Dan’s presidential victory, Romania may soon find itself still governed by the same party which has been in power, on and off, for the past 35 years, and which has been criticised for undermining the country's rule of law.

Simion, 38, Dan’s rival in the presidential race, is a former football merchandise entrepreneur turned far-right politician. He topped the first round of voting on 4 May but ultimately lost the runoff by a margin of more than five percentage points.

He had hoped until the last moment that he could win with the help of the diaspora (around six million Romanians living abroad) and with strong support in the big cities. On Sunday night, he conceded defeat in a message on Facebook. 

During the last week of the campaign, Simion travelled around Europe to meet supportive diaspora Romanians, including a stop in Paris. There, he gave an interview to CNews and said that Emmanuel Macron has interfered in the Romanian elections and that France is a dictatorship. 

While most Romanians were outraged by this performance in the French media, his supporters praised him.

Tight election

The presidential race became very tight during the last three days and the overall situation in Romania is concerning.

The president-elect of the country is aware a recession is likely, due to the political instability caused by the extensive electoral campaign.

The politically hostile climate has been unnerving the economy since last November, when the presidential elections first took place. Due to foreign interference and fraud, the first round of elections won by the pro-Russian “TikTok candidate” Călin Georgescu was annulled. 

Furthermore, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development last week (13 May) revised its estimates for the Romanian economy in 2025 downward, to 1.6 percent. 

The bank expects Romania’s GDP to grow 0.2 percent less than the 1.8 percent estimate made in February, and to increase by 2.4 percent in 2026.

Meanwhile, more and more Romanians are leaving the country in search of a better future, mostly in western Europe. 

Young people complain about not having access to the job market, doctors quit because of a lack of investment in the health sector, while teachers deplore the very low salaries. 

In general, 18 years after joining the EU, Romanians still complain about access to health services, jobs, housing, and education, with large disparities between urban and rural development. 

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