Thousands join a pro-EU rally in Romania's capital as pivotal presidential runoff looms

BUCHAREST, Romania — Thousands of people gathered in Romania's capital on Friday for a pro-European Union march. It came a week before the final vote of a closely watched presidential election that pits a hard-right nationalist front-runner against the capital's pro-EU mayor.

Marchers converged in Bucharest in front of the government building, where many waved the blue and yellow flags of Europe. Many chanted slogans such as ''We are in Europe'' and ''Bucharest is not Budapest,'' referring to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a member but also a longtime critic of the EU.

A communist country until 1989, Romania joined the EU in 2007. But last year it was plunged into its worst political crisis in decades when a top court voided the previous election. The far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.

The rally was held nearly a week after the first round of a presidential election redo that saw hard-right nationalist George Simion, 38, emerge as the front-runner. In second place was 55-year-old incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.

''We need to develop … we want to be like the best countries, and we don't have the possibilities on our own,'' said Stefan Gheorghe, a 23-year-old lawyer. ''You need the European Union to help us out. It is very important to us to stay together … and to benefit from each other.''

A median of polls ahead of the runoff suggests Simion holds a lead in the vote, which will be held between the two staunchly antiestablishment candidates on May 18. Observers have warned that the outcome could reshape the EU and NATO member country's geopolitical direction.

After reaching second place on Sunday night, Dan called the final vote a choice ''between a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western one.''

Simion's critics have long accused him of being Russia-friendly and warn that his presidency would undermine both the EU and NATO as Moscow's war drags on in Ukraine. But in an interview with The Associated Press this week, Simion rejected the accusations and said, ''It's not for the good of the Romanian people to be close to Russia."

''We want to be a member of the European Union. Some fake news were saying that we want to exit the European project,'' said Simion, who leads Romania's second-largest party, the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. ''We don't want to leave. We are here to stay. We invested a lot.''

Simion, who came fourth in last year's race and later backed Georgescu, said in an earlier interview with the AP that he wants to see "more power" go to the bloc's 27 individual members, ''not toward the European institutions.''

Similar rallies were held in several cities across Romania on Friday to mark Europe Day, a date that proclaims to celebrate peace and unity in Europe.

Although Simion and Dan are ideological opposites, they both made their political careers railing against Romania's old political class, which has fallen out of favor as strong antiestablishment sentiment among voters grips the country.

For Diana Draghici, 38, the upcoming runoff will be a pivotal moment for Romania's future and a choice between forging stronger EU ties or potentially shifting East.

''I think it's important that the young people who were undecided and didn't vote so far ... to have a wake-up call and choose who they want to have represented,'' she said. ''It could decide two extremely different scenarios for Romania's future.''