Romania’s elections show pro-EU victory and rise of the far-right

Negotiations are underway for a government coalition in Romania following the victory of the pro-Western centrist parties and the gains for far-right parties in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

With 99% of the votes counted, the governing social-democrats (PSD) are leading with 21% of the votes followed by the nationalist far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) with 18%.

The National Liberal party (PNL) won 14.6% of the vote and centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) took 11.1%.

Marcel Ciolacu, President of the PSD said congratulated his victory, but nodded towards the rise of far-right sentiment saying, “Romanians, at this point, have given a warning card to the entire political class”.

“We assume again to be a binding force in society, to be again a balancing factor and, as I said during the election campaign, to be the grown-up in the room at this moment,” Ciolacu said.

The two other main centrist forces and the Hungarian minority’s political party confirm that pro-European forces are in the majority, but two additional extreme far-right parties also saw gains, making it into Parliament with under 7% of the votes each.

Leader of Union Save Romania party Elena Lasconi, who won 11.1% of the votes, said “I want to thank you for not playing Russian roulette with democracy in Romania and also with this sacred right to vote freely”.

“I am a firm supporter of the law and the Constitution. God will help us this time too to stand united, to fight for democracy and to keep Russia out of our country,” Lasconi said, adding she would aim to unite Romanians.

Rise of the far-right

Romania’s pro-EU, pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine course has been reaffirmed by the voters, but the rise of nationalist far-right parties show the country is grappling with unprecedented polarisation.

The parliament results just after unexpected race for next Sunday’s presidential elections showdown between two outsiders, the pro-European Elena Lasconi facing the ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu whose shock rise prompted a record turnout in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in what the pro-EU forces called a “national emergency” vote.

NATO’s biggest Eastern flank country and a traditionally staunch NATO ally, Romanian society has been inundated with intense social media anti-EU and anti-Nato narratives starting with the Covid-19 pandemic and culminating with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Analysts speculate that the rise of Georgescu and far-right parties could also be indicative of a protest vote against the Romanian establishment.

The country suffers from the highest inflation rate of the European Union, as well as its largest budget deficit.

“I think through yesterday’s vote, Romanians wanted to send a clear message to their own politicians rather than to Europe. The significant increase in support for the extremists compared to 2020 shows that in Romania people are feeling despondent,” political analyst Adi Zabava said.

“Nevertheless, parts of yesterday’s vote came from Romanians who wanted to defend their country’s pro-EU stance, alarmed by the results in the first round of the presidential elections.”