Romanian Prime Minister Ciolacu resigns

The first round of the presidential election held yesterday in Romania, a European Union (EU) member state located on the Ukrainian border and on NATO's eastern flank, has plunged the country into a new political crisis. Romania's pro-EU Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation after far-right candidate George Simion won the first round by a wide margin and the government-backed candidate was eliminated from the race. In a statement made after a meeting at the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which he leads, Ciolacu said, "Instead of waiting for the future president to remove me from office at the end of the process, I decided to resign myself."

Stating that the election results reveal that the government has lost the public's trust, Ciolacu announced that his party, the PSD, would withdraw from the coalition government, which effectively means the end of the coalition government. Ciolacu had taken office following the general elections held on December 1, 2024.

In the election held yesterday, George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), took first place with 40.96 percent of the vote. The candidate who will compete against Simion in the second round of the election, to be held on May 18, is Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who received 20.99 percent of the vote. Crin Antonescu, the candidate supported by the ruling coalition, remained at 20.07 percent and narrowly lost the chance to advance to the second round.

FINISHED THE ELECTION IN FIRST PLACE

The success achieved by far-right candidate Simion in the voting came after the first round of the presidential election held last November was annulled by the Romanian Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court had annulled the elections, which far-right candidate Calin Georgescu had finished in first place, following intelligence reports regarding Russia's interference in the elections, and had also banned Georgescu from running again.

AUR leader George Simion had criticized the Constitutional Court's decision during his election campaign and stated that he was a candidate to restore the will of the people. Criticizing EU policies, Simion stands out as a politician who opposes military aid to Ukraine and defines himself as following the line of US President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again."