Political scientist questioned Simion's victory in the Romanian presidential election

The leader of the opposition Alliance for the Unification of Romanians party, George Simion, is unlikely to win in the second round of the presidential election. This opinion was shared with Izvestia on May 5 by Tatiana Bitkova, a leading researcher at the Department of Europe and America of the INION RAS.

According to her, the majority of voters who voted for other candidates will choose the candidacy of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan in the second round of voting on May 18.

She added that it was unclear what policy Simion might pursue with regard to the Russian Federation if elected president.

"We don't know about any positive reviews from Simion about Russia. The fact that he urges not to supply weapons to Ukraine does not mean anything. It's probably just pure populism for the people," she said.

The expert also expressed doubt that if Simion wins, he will be able to achieve the post of prime minister for former independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu.

"Romania is a presidential-parliamentary republic. The President may propose a candidate, but Parliament approves it. In my opinion, this parliament will not approve Georgescu if it suddenly happens that Simion wins the election," she said.

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Presidential elections were held in Romania in November 2024. In terms of the number of votes, Georgescu was in the lead with 22.94% of the vote, while Elena Lasconi, head of the opposition Union for the Salvation of Romania party, received 19.17%. The second round was scheduled to take place on December 8. At the same time, on December 6, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the results of the last vote.

The first round of repeat elections in Romania was held on May 4. Simion, who received 40.96% of the vote, and the independent candidate, Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who received 20.99% of the total votes, advanced to the second round, which will be held on May 18. Simion stated that he dedicates his victory in the first round to Georgescu.

On May 5, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolaku announced that he was ready to leave his post if the Social Democratic Party (SDP) withdrew from the ruling coalition. Its leader Chris Antonescu did not qualify for the second round of voting. On the same day, Simion allowed Georgescu to be appointed Prime Minister of the country in the event of his victory.