In election shock, Romanian far-right NATO critic set for presidential contest

Reuters: BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia is set to face a centre-right opposition leader in a presidential election run-off in Romania that could undermine its pro-Western stance after a shock outcome in the first-round vote.

Independent hard-right politician Calin Georgescu, 62, won 22.94% of votes in Sunday's voting, the electoral authority said. Centre-right contender Elena Lasconi, leader of the opposition Save Romania Union, lay second with 19.18%.

The outcome was a shock as pre-election opinion polls had made leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu the frontrunner. Ciolacu said he would resign as party leader following the result but would remain in the role of prime minister until a parliamentary election scheduled on Dec. 1.

The candidate of the centre-right Liberals, Ciolacu's coalition partners, also failed to secure a place in the election run-off, which will be held on Dec. 8.

Campaigning focused largely on the soaring cost of living in Romania, which is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and has the EU's biggest share of people at risk of poverty.

"I have voted for the wronged, the humiliated, those who feel they do not matter in this world," Georgescu said on Sunday. "Today, the vote is a prayer for the nation."

Lasconi attempted to highlight her pro-Western stance in comments made late on Monday: "Yes, Europe. Yes, NATO."

Georgescu had been polling in low-single digits before the vote and ran a Tik Tok-driven campaign.

"Just imagine, we are in a position where we could have a far-right president," political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu said. "This is where the establishment parties have led us, first by vehemently denying the existence of a hybrid war and then by falling into it. His chances of winning are high."

Romania's sovereign euro bonds fell nearly 2 cents on Monday following the first round of voting.

Asked about the election outcome, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "I would not make any predictions yet. We probably cannot say that we are that familiar with the world view of this candidate as far as relations with our country are concerned."

"For now, we understand very clearly the current leadership of Romania, which is not a friendly country to us. We will of course watch how the electoral processes develop and who wins."