With the decisive win of independent pro-Western Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan in Sunday’s tight presidential elections, Romania is moving past its historic political crisis.
In what former Romanian President Traian Basescu referred to as “Romania’s choice between the West and the East,” Dan made a stunning comeback from the first round, defeating hard-right candidate George Simion with 53.60 percent of the vote to 46.40 percent.
Dan, who ran as an independent on a platform of anti-corruption and reform, likewise defeated the whole Romanian political system. Two critical elections in central and eastern Europe were held simultaneously in Romania and Poland on a disappointing night for the country’s hard-right nationalist groups.
Considered a virtual referendum in NATO’s eastern flank nation, Romanians voted in record numbers at one of the most contentious and polarised political occasions in the country’s post-communist history. The strong pro-EU and pro-NATO message conveyed by 6 million Romanians ultimately brought about a significant, energising sigh of relief for the EU, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova.
Poland, where another capital city, Rafal Trzaskowski, the candidate of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party, won the first round of Polish presidential elections, followed by conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki, endorsed by Law and Justice, is undoubtedly watching Romania’s decisive vote.
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