Nationalist secures 1st round of voting

George Simion, a right-wing nationalist who has promised to “Make Romania Great Again”, won the first round of his country’s presidential election on Sunday, bucking the recent trend of voters punishing candidates seen as friendly to US President Donald Trump.

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With more than 98% of the votes cast inside Romania counted, Mr Simion was far ahead of 10 rival candidates, garnering more than 40%. A partial count of the votes of Romanians living abroad, who generally tilt hard right, also gave Mr Simion a big lead.

The results, though incomplete, ensured Mr Simion a slot in a runoff on May 18 against the likely second-place finisher, Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Romania's capital.

Unlike voters in Canada and Australia who in recent elections favoured parties openly opposed to Mr Trump, Romanians, by supporting Mr Simion, rewarded one of Europe's most vocal admirers of the MAGA movement.