Romania’s Election Rerun: What’s at Stake as the Far Right Rises

Romanians delivered a resounding anti-establishment message in the first round of the country’s presidential election rerun, propelling hard-right leader George Simion and Bucharest’s independent centrist mayor Nicusor Dan to a high-stakes runoff to be held on May 18.

As voters expressed their frustration with the mainstream parties that have governed since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, the candidate representing the ruling coalition was eliminated. This prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, compounding Romania’s political crisis that started last year.