Prime Minister Ciolacu and nationalist Georgescu aim for the second round of the presidential elections in Romania

First official results predict a second round between the pro-European president and his surprising rival

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The Prime Minister of Romania, the social democrat Marcel Ciolacu, and the independent nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu are now absolute favorites to face each other in the second round of the Romanian presidential elections on December 8, according to the first official results that, with 88 percent of the votes counted, leave both in a situation of technical tie.

The results are still not absolutely conclusive because the commission is finishing processing the votes of the diaspora but everything indicates, except for catastrophe, that both will star in a duel within two weeks in a scenario almost impossible to anticipate based on previous surveys. Turnout across the country and in the Romanian diaspora has been 52.5 percent, slightly above the 51.2 percent who voted in the previous presidential election in 2019.

Georgescu, who has given the absolute surprise against some polls that did not place him even among the first three places, has so far received 21.97 percent of the votes, five tenths more than the prime minister (21.48 percent hundred). Both are now five percentage points ahead of the third in contention, the liberal Elena Lasconi (16.41 percent), according to data from the electoral commission.

If these results hold until the end, within two weeks the Romanian population will choose between the pro-European option represented by Ciolacu against the nationalist vision represented by Georgescu, an agronomist specialized in sustainable development and former United Nations rapporteur on the dumping of dangerous products. .

According to analysts from the Romanian network Antena24, Georgescu’s candidacy has been fueled by strong discontent with traditional politics. His message, resounding on issues of sovereignty and defense of national interests, resonated with a significant part of the Romanian electorate. In addition, Georgescu has been the figure of a massive campaign on social networks, especially the TikTok platform.

Romania, it should be remembered, is going through a crucial moment, as it faces economic and social challenges, while the president-elect will have to manage an increasingly tense geopolitical context in Eastern Europe, marked by the war in Ukraine and growing tensions with Moscow.

Less clear is Georgescu’s alleged connection with Russia, although the 62-year-old engineer has always been portrayed positively by the Kremlin-funded Russian media outlets Sputnik and Russia Today. The candidate even declared in April that “Russia’s wisdom gives Romania an opportunity because, at this moment, Romania is not prepared for anything, neither diplomatically nor strategically.”

The results also point to a clear defeat of the far-right president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, who would have received around 14.9 percent of the votes; data that has remained in the background, behind Georgescu’s surprising result.