In a historic and high-stakes election, centrist and pro-EU candidate Nicușor Dan has defeated ultranationalist rival George Simion to become the next President of Romania. With 100% of votes counted,

Pro-European voters across Romania celebrated the defeat of Simion, a nationalist populist known for his pro-Russian rhetoric. This result was made possible by a record-breaking voter turnout — the highest in 20 years — with 65% of eligible voters participating in the second round.

Nicușor Dan (independent centrist politician and incumbent Mayor of Bucharest) won the 2025 Romanian presidential election decisively over George Simion

“Congratulations Nicușor Dan! Long live free Romania,” exulted center-right Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose party candidate also won a narrow election victory Sunday night in Poland. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also thrilled by the outcome, as Dan promises to keep Romania on its pro-EU, pro-NATO pathway.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan on his victory in the presidential election in Romania.

Nicușor Dan, a math prodigy and current Mayor of Bucharest, won gold at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1987 and 1988.

Romanians flocked to polling stations on Sunday in large numbers to elect the country’s next president, in a choice between a pro-EU centrist and a far-right Eurosceptic.

Romanians are casting their ballots in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist