According to first estimates, Romania is heading towards the second round of presidential elections

Prime Minister Ciolacu has emerged as the provisional winner of the first round without the necessary majority

Madrid, 24 November (Europa Press) –

Romania’s Prime Minister, social democrat and pro-European Marcel Ciolucu, leads the first vote projections after the polls closed in the Romanian presidential elections, but everything indicates that the population will have to return to the polls on December 8. It seems unlikely that he will get the absolute majority needed for an outright victory.

Exit polls by Avangarde for the official agency Agrapress and CURS showed Ciolacu with 25 percent of the vote, seven points ahead of the Union to Save Romania party’s candidate, conservative Elena Lasconi.

Lasconi, currently with 18 percent of the vote, has emerged as a potential rival to the prime minister in the second round, not surprising if independent Calin Georgescu, who is only two points behind, wins.

Then, with 15 percent, appears the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, whom his critics consider extremely right-wing and a supporter of neutrality in the conflict with Russia.

In fact, this first round has served to examine the 15 candidates who have presented themselves in the elections, whose results will be known more reliably this coming Monday.

The elections are important for the future of the country due to the transition to a new presidency following the departure of current President Klaus Iohannis. Furthermore, Romania is going through a critical moment, as it faces economic and social challenges, while the President-elect must manage an increasingly tense geopolitical context in Eastern Europe, fueled by the war in Ukraine and Russia’s is marked by increasing tension.