At first glance, Romania’s presidential race, which comes to a head in a second round of voting this Sunday, might look like a de facto referendum on Europe. The far-right George Simion – a former football hooligan who is banned from entering Ukraine for what Kyiv calls “systematic anti-Ukrainian activities” – surged to first place in the first round last week with 41% of the vote. Trailing him is Nicușor Dan, Bucharest’s reformist mayor, with just 21%.
The race pits Dan, a technocratic pro-European candidate, against a bombastic, Maga-admiring nationalist who rails against “Brussels” and promises to put the “national interest” above international obligations.
