BUCHAREST (Reuters) – George Simion, the leader of Romania’s second-largest party, became the hard right’s candidate in a May presidential election re-run after an ally withdrew from the race on Wednesday, boosting his chances of making it into the run-off vote.
The European Union and NATO member which borders Ukraine will repeat its two-round presidential election on May 4 and 18 after the Constitutional Court voided the initial ballot in December following accusations of Russian meddling in favour of far-right, pro-Russian frontrunner Calin Georgescu.
Georgescu, who denied accusations of Russian meddling, as has Moscow, was barred from running again earlier this month.
If a far-right candidate succeeds in swaying Georgescu’s voters, it could determine whether another central European country swings closer to Moscow beside Hungary and Slovakia.
Georgescu stopped short of endorsing a single candidate after his bid was rejected.
Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), and Anamaria Gavrila, leader of the Young People Party (POT), joined the race with the agreement that one would stand down if election authorities approved both of their candidacies. Gavrila withdrew on Wednesday.
“We decided to support the one who has the most chances (of winning),” she said in a joint video with Simion posted on their social media accounts.
“We must go beyond parties and, as Mr. Georgescu said, we must support this (ultranationalist) movement by giving it all the chances.”
Simion, 38, has seen his six-year-old party go from a fringe anti-vaccination group during the COVID-19 pandemic into Romania’s leading opposition force, appealing to the working class diaspora, young voters and building on popular anger with mainstream politicians.
“Today, more than ever, Romania needs the unity of its national forces,” Simion said on social media.
He has said he is not pro-Russian, calling President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, and supports Romania’s European Union member status. Like Georgescu, however, he has said Romania should be more assertive and follow its own interests.
Simion has supported restoring Romania’s pre-World War Two borders, which include areas now in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, and he has been declared persona non grata in the latter two.
An opinion survey released earlier this month showed Simion would make it into the run-off vote but is trailing Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of capital Bucharest running as an independent.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
