Simion vs Dan: Romanians vote in prez run-off

Polls suggest Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician, has managed to narrow the lead of Simion, a former football hooligan, in the country of 19 million people.

- Associated Press

BUCHAREST: Romanians voted on Sunday in a tense presidential run-off between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and Nato member country.

The race pits front-runner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, against incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. It comes months after the cancellation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.