Romania set to vote in critical presidential rerun with a MAGA-style nationalist in the forefront

BUCHAREST, Romania — As Romanians vote Sunday in one of the European Union member's most important elections in decades, MAGA-style hard-right nationalist George Simion says it's his duty to restore democracy and the will of the people after the previous vote was annulled.

Romania's political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls. The decision followed allegations of electoral violations and a Russian campaign promoting Georgescu, who is now under investigation and barred from Sunday's redo. Moscow has denied it meddled.

''We didn't go from communism to democracy in 1989,'' Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, told The Associated Press. ''The Romanian people lived the lie that we are a democratic country.''

Eleven candidates are vying for the presidency in Sunday's vote, which is expected to go to a May 18 runoff. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy.

A communist state until the end of the Cold War, Romania has spent decades trying to build strong democratic institutions. But last year's failed election plunged the EU and NATO member country into unprecedented political turmoil.

''They voted for the change, and they were not allowed to make this change,'' said Simion, who came fourth in last year's race and later backed Georgescu. ''I'm running again as a duty towards democracy, toward the constitutional order, to restore the rule of law, to restore the will of the Romanian people.''

MAGA-style populism paves way to runoff

While data from local surveys should be taken with caution, a median of polls suggests Simion will enter the runoff, likely pitting him against incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, or the governing coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu.

Like other EU countries, votes for nationalists and far-right figures in recent years have grown in Romania, fueled by widespread anti-establishment sentiment.

Simion said his AUR party is ''perfectly aligned with the MAGA movement,'' capitalizing on a growing wave of populism in Europe after U.S. President Donald Trump's political comeback. AUR rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election, proclaims to stand for ''family, nation, faith, and freedom,'' and has since doubled its support.

Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) in 2016, is running on a pro-EU ''Honest Romania'' ticket. He says Romania needs a president ''who has the will and the ability to reform the system.''

Veteran centrist Antonescu, 65, has campaigned on retaining Romania's pro-Western orientation, while Victor Ponta, a former prime minister between 2012 and 2015, has also pushed a MAGA-style ''Romania First'' campaign and boasts of having close ties to the Trump administration.

Another hopeful, Elena Lasconi, came second in last year's first round ballot and is running again on Sunday. She has positioned herself as a staunchly pro-Western, anti-system candidate, railing against what she describes as a corrupt political class.

''I will use every tool I have so that people's voices are heard, in government, in Parliament, in the judiciary,'' she told the AP. ''Institutions must serve the people. … We need to stay close to Brussels.''

However, her chances dimmed in the rerun after her USR party withdrew its support for her in favor of Dan, claiming he had a better chance of winning. Lasconi labeled colleagues who moved against her as ''coup plotters.'' Her critics accuse her of being unprepared for high office.

Criticism from the US and Russia

The election redo is a pivotal moment for Romania as it seeks to restore its democracy and retain its geopolitical alliances, which have become strained since the canceled election fiasco.

The decision to annul the election and the ban on Georgescu's candidacy have been strongly criticized by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, and Russia, which publicly supported his candidacy in the rerun.

Without directly addressing Sunday's election, the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest posted a comment on Facebook, attributed to Vance, saying: ''To believe in democracy means to recognize that every citizen has the right to an opinion. We should not be afraid of our people, even when they express opinions that disagree with our leadership.''

Distrust in the authorities remains widespread, especially for those who voted for Georgescu, a sizeable electorate whose votes Simion has sought to capitalize on.

However, a Simion presidency would pose unique foreign policy conundrums. He is banned from entering two neighboring countries, Moldova and Ukraine, over security concerns. ''It is in their interest to have good relations with us,'' he said.

His critics have long accused him of being pro-Russian, warning that his presidency would undermine both Brussels and NATO as the war rages on in Ukraine. He refuted the accusations as a ''smear campaign'' and said Russia has been the ''main threat" to Romania in the last 200 years and remains so today.

''This is why we need a strong NATO and we need troops on the ground in Romania, in Poland and in the Baltic states,'' he said, although he was against sending further military aid to Ukraine. On the EU, Simion said, ''We want more power to the 27 states, not toward the European institutions."

Opponents have accused Simion's AUR party of being extremist. In 2022, Israel's ambassador to Romania condemned AUR for opposing a mandate for studying the Holocaust in Romania, which it deemed a ''minor issue,'' and later softened its stance.

Critical moment

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says a Simion presidency would ''turn Romania upside down because he will use and weaponize this social and economic political discontent,'' potentially triggering a ''crisis within all the political parties."

''He will try to introduce and reshape the public conversations on issues regarding more conservative problems or populist issues ... and at some point, he will try to grow on this skepticism against the EU and the West,'' he said. In the longer term, "he will probably open the door to a conversation about new alliances to the East.''

For Rares Ghiorghies, 36, who works in the energy sector, Simion's appeal lies in his ''patriotic-conservative vision'' that puts family and faith first, and his promise to rid Romania of a political class ''dominated by corruption, incompetence, and servility towards all other partners.''

''This change can only be achieved through a fundamental overhaul of the political class and its outdated principles,'' he said, adding that Simion is a patriot whose ''vision of foreign policy is definitely oriented towards the USA and not towards Russia.''

Lidia Cremenescu, a 34-year-old shop owner in Bucharest, says she will vote for Dan, and lists her main concerns as the war in Ukraine, a flailing economy and higher taxation, and corruption.

''I think he can make real changes in this country,'' she said, adding that as Bucharest mayor, Dan has tackled important projects that previous mayors neglected. ''You can see changes. … You want someone who will take power and in case anything goes wrong.''