By Thomas Grove

The mayor of Romania's capital of Bucharest is expected to win the country's presidential election, according to exit polls, placing a staunch pro-European politician in power in a NATO ally bordering Ukraine.

The potential victory of Nicusor Dan in Sunday's election over George Simion, who praised President Trump and promised to "Make Romania Great Again," would cap months of political instability in the country, which hosts two North Atlantic Treaty Organization bases and a major air-defense system.

The country's Constitutional Court canceled a presidential election last year over allegations that a Russian social-media influence operation had skewed election results to favor a little known right-wing candidate, Calin Georgescu.

Georgescu was banned from running again in the redo election. Simion, a telegenic politician from Romania's far right who promised to bring Georgescu back as prime minister, won the first round of voting earlier this month.

In contrast to Romania's other flashier politicians, Dan, who studied mathematics, has a short cropped mop of curly hair and is known to speak about policy while staring at the floor. He has advocated for stronger European ties and more aid to Ukraine, while fighting corruption at home.

"I cast my vote for maintaining Romania's European direction and for solid cooperation with our European partners, rather than a path which leads to Romania's isolation," said Dan, voting in his hometown of Faragas, in central Romania, before traveling to Bucharest, where he has served as mayor for four years.

"Today marks a turning point," he added.

An independent candidate, he broke from Romanian party politics and its fractious landscape in 2017. His outsider image likely appealed to many voters who sought a break from the current government, which critics say has increasingly tried to influence business and the justice system.

Dan has said he plans to fight organized crime and corruption, empowering some of the state anticorruption agencies that analysts said had been defanged in recent years. He also said he plans to boost Romania's military spending, which is just above 2%, to 3.5% in the next five years.

Turnout for the election was close to 65%, much higher than previous ballots. Two exit polls put Dan's support at just over 54% and Simion's count at more than 45%. Still to be counted are diaspora votes, which analysts expect to show a mix of support for the two candidates.

Simion rankled NATO allies by advocating for neutrality between Russia and Ukraine and was seen by some as too sympathetic to Russia. Simion had been banned from both Moldova and Ukraine. No explanation was ever given for the ban, but a former Moldovan defense minister said it was because of alleged links with Russian intelligence agencies.

On Sunday, Simion leveled accusations of voter fraud, without providing evidence. He also declared victory despite the exit polls.

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of social media messaging app Telegram, said he had refused to comply with a request from a Western government "to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today's presidential elections." Durov didn't offer further detail or name the government.

Dan's campaign said the statement by Durov, made on Sunday, was itself a form of interference in the election.

Romania captured the attention of the U.S. earlier this year when the annulment of the previous election sparked criticism by Vice President JD Vance. Simion has tried to further strengthen ties with Republicans in the U.S. He spent a week in the U.S. at the height of the campaign, giving interviews to antiestablishment right-wing commentators such as Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec.

In the lead up to the election, Simion voiced public support to Polish right-wing presidential candidate, Karol Nawrocki, who was running for the country's former ruling Law and Justice Party, which was voted out of office in 2023. Simion had said in an interview with a conservative U.S. magazine that he and Nawrocki could form a pro-Trump alliance in Europe.

On Sunday, Nawrocki came in a close second in the first round of voting behind Rafal Trzaskowski from the current center-left ruling coalition, exit polls showed. The two beat out Slawomir Mentzen, of the Kofederacja Party, which has styled itself as a bastion of antiestablishment sentiment. Konfederacja has advocated for the end of support for Ukraine and has played up Poles' growing weariness of the war and support for Ukrainian refugees in the country.

The victory of Dan in Romania likely averts more chaos in the country, where credit ratings company S&P said they would cut Romania's rating to junk in the face of more political instability. One of the poorest countries in Europe, Romania has run large budget deficits in recent years.

Dan has vowed to balance Romania's budgets, clamp down on tax evasion and bring more accountability to the state.

"For many years there has been a distance between society and the politicians. People don't think they're part of decision-making in any way," he said in a press conference in April. People think the government is "working not for society but for themselves."

Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Nicusor Dan's hometown is Fagaras. "Pro-European Candidate Expected to Defeat MAGA-Style Politician in Romania," at 4:12 p.m. ET incorrectly spelled it as Faragas in one instance.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2025 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)

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