Nicusor Dan wins the Romanian presidential election with 53.93 % votes after 99.4 % ballots were counted

BUCHAREST, May 19. Independent pro-European candidate and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan received 53.93 % votes after 99.4 % ballots were counted, while his rival, Nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians leader George Simion, received 46.07 %, the Permanent Electoral Office reported.

Nicusor Dan thus became the fifth president of Romania after the fall of the totalitarian Ceausescu regime in 1989. Even before the results were fully summarised, the media declared him the "mathematical" winner of the second round of the presidential elections, because after counting 92.4 % votes he had obtained the necessary 50 + 1 % votes. Dan won convincingly among Romanians who voted in Romania, but lost to Simion among those who voted abroad. After counting 82 % ballots from the Romanian diaspora, Simion received 55.12 % votes, while Dan received 44.88 %.

Meanwhile, Dan won among the Romanians in Russia and China, reports stiripesurse.ro. In Russia, where two polling stations were opened - in Moscow and St Petersburg - Dan got 58.65 % votes, while Simion got 41.35 %. The news portal notes that only 115 Romanians voted in Russia. In China, Dan received 84.23 % votes, while Simion received 15.77 %. Dan also won among Romanians in Kazakhstan, Iran, India, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians recognises the electoral victory of Nicusor Dan. "I would like to congratulate my opponent Nicusor Dan, he won the election," said party leader George Simion in a video posted on Facebook (a social network banned in Russia because it is owned by the Meta corporation, which the Russian authorities consider extremist). I want to thank all the more than five million Romanians who put their trust in me," he stressed. Earlier reports suggested that Simion had called for mass protests against the alleged vote rigging.

Dan has already been congratulated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Volodymyr Zelensky.

TASS/gnews.cz