Exit polls:

Romania’s Prime Minister Ciolacu in presidential run-off election

Marcel Ciolacu's victory, and therefore his place in the run-off election on December 8, should no longer be out of reach

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrei Pungovschi)

Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu won the first round of the Romanian presidential election on Sunday. This was revealed by voter surveys published after the polls closed in the evening.

Ciolacu achieved around 25 percent of the vote in both polls. The race for second place did not appear to have been decided yet. The leader of the reform party USR, Elena Lasconi, was only just ahead of two right-wing populist politicians with 18%.

Due to the large number of Romanians abroad who were not surveyed, there could be significant discrepancies between the forecasts and the actual result. Although Ciolacu's victory and therefore his place in the run-off on December 8th should no longer be out of reach, his lead could be smaller than in the exit polls. A total of 13 candidates vied for the trust of the approximately 19 million eligible voters, including the conservative former prime minister Nicolae Ciuca, who only came in fourth place according to the exit polls. Ciuca received between 13 and 14 percent, while the radical right-wing politicians Calin Georgescu and George Simion received between 14 and 16 percent.

Surprise success for reform politician looms
For 52-year-old reform politician Lasconi, reaching the run-off would be the crowning glory of a still young political career. The former TV journalist and incumbent mayor of the small town of Campulung Muscel was only elected as the new USR chairwoman in the summer, when the old party leadership was voted out of office after the Reform Party suffered bitter losses in the local elections. Lasconi only announced herself as her party's presidential candidate after none of the more experienced USR leaders had declared their willingness to take part in the presidential race.

Elena Lasconi

(Bild: APA/AFP/Mihai Barbu)

In the run-off, Lasconi could benefit from the fact that Romanian voters traditionally prefer a bourgeois head of state. In the past twenty years, all candidates from the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) have made it to the run-off, but have always been defeated by the candidate from the bourgeois camp.

Right-wing populist is considered an opponent of military aid for Kiev
Former President Traian Basescu believes that if Simion makes it to the run-off, it would be an unprecedented embarrassment for the country - it is simply inconceivable that anyone would reach the final round of the race for the highest office in the state, Basescu warned just a few days ago that it was simply inconceivable that someone who had been declared persona non grata and banned from entering the country by two of Romania's neighboring countries, namely Ukraine and Moldova, for nationalist incitement and suspected links to the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB would reach the final round of the race for the highest office in the country.

Simion is a fervent nationalist as well as a decidedly pro-Russian and Eurosceptic politician who, as a former soccer hooligan, also likes to be aggressive and occasionally gets violent with political opponents. As head of state, the 38-year-old says he would keep Romania in NATO and the EU, but hopes for a Europe of nation states. Simion is also decidedly against further military aid for Ukraine.

17 polling stations set up in Austria
The almost 19,000 polling stations in the country opened at 06:00 CET and closed at 20:00 CET. This time, the Romanian authorities set up 950 polling stations abroad, including 17 in Austria - six in Vienna, two each in Salzburg, Graz and Linz and one each in Eisenstadt, St. Pölten, Bregenz, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.

As Romania is a semi-presidential republic, the head of state has significant political powers. According to the Romanian constitution, the authority to issue directives on foreign and defense policy lies with the President of the Republic, who is also the supreme commander of the army and heads the country's Defense Council. The President also represents Romania at EU level and at European Council summits, as well as in international law. He is regarded as the guarantor of the country's independence, the rule of law and, in the event of political or social tensions, as a mediator between the authorities and society.