Hard-right nationalist George Simion could win Romania’s presidential election run-off on Sunday – a vote being held five months after the original election was annulled.

George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), conceded defeat on Sunday night and congratulated Bucharest mayor and pro-EU independent candidate Nicușor Dan for winning the presidential election.

A pro-European Union centrist pulled off an upset in Romania’s presidential election, beating out a hard-right nationalist who had channeled people’s anger at the political establishment to surge in the polls.

There was a wave of euphoria and relief across Europe following the election of pro-European liberal Nicusor Dan as Romania’s new president. Moldovan President Maia Sandu echoed the sentiment: “Congratulations,

George Simion suggests Romania, a member of the European Union and NATO, should stop aiding Ukraine. Ukraine considers him a national security threat.

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

George Simion, the frontrunner in Sunday's presidential runoff, is a former football hooligan and fan of US President Donald Trump who is promising to put "Romania first". - Violence and insults - In his youth,

The election result could reshape the direction of the pro-EU and NATO member nation bordering war-torn Ukraine.

George Simion is just 38 years old but now sitting on the threshold of remarkable power. He is the populist politician who has made it to the run-off to become Romania's president.

The outcome has been a defeat for Viktor Orban as ethnic Hungarians overwhelmingly supported the pro-European candidate, independent media wrote on May 19, citing a political analyst and a former leader of UMDR (RMDSZ),