Romania's presidential race: Simion, Antonescu, and Dan lead the charge

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romanians voted on Sunday for the first round of a closely contested presidential election. 

While results are expected later in the evening, exit polls showed George Simion, Crin Antonescu, and Nicusor Dan are expected to lead, paving the way for a likely run-off between the two top candidates on May 18.

The presidency holds significant influence over foreign policy and defense spending, making the contest among Simion, Antonescu, and Dan especially pivotal for Romania's future direction.

GEORGE SIMION

The 38-year-old leader of the radical right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) leads in opinion polls.

He opposes military aid to Ukraine, is critical of the European Union's leadership and supports U.S. President Donald Trump.

He has called for restoring Romania to its 1940 borders, which include territories now in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, and is banned from entering the latter two.

Simion has grown his AUR party from a fringe anti-vaccination group during the COVID pandemic into Romania's second-largest party in just six years, appealing to the working-class diaspora and young voters and building on popular anger with mainstream politicians.

A conservative Christian, he supported a failed 2018 referendum to change Romania's constitution to prevent same-sex couples from ever being able to marry.

Election authorities are looking into his campaign funding after he reported zero funds spent on online promotion despite evidence of paid content on social media platforms. 

He is also under investigation for inciting people to violence after saying election officials who have banned from standing again the far-right frontrunner of the initial presidential election which was canceled five months ago should be skinned, a statement he later said he did not mean.  

CRIN ANTONESCU

The 65-year-old former leader of the ruling coalition Liberal Party became a lawmaker in 1992 and has held political positions throughout his career until he retired from politics a decade ago.

He is backed by the leftist Social Democrats (PSD), his Liberals and the ethnic Hungarian party, which make up Romania's pro-western coalition government.

In 2012, alongside Victor Ponta, another presidential candidate who was then prime minister and PSD leader, Antonescu attempted to overthrow then centrist President Traian Basescu, which raised concerns in Brussels over the rule of law.

Antonescu briefly served as interim president but the impeachment referendum against Basescu ultimately failed.

After retiring from politics, Antonescu lived in Brussels with his wife Adina Valean, a member of the European Parliament who served as the EU's transport commissioner. 

Antonescu supports increasing defence spending and supporting Ukraine while remaining firmly anchored in the EU and NATO. He supports the introduction of civil unions for same-sex couples.

NICUSOR DAN

Dan, 55, is a two-term mayor of capital Bucharest running as an independent centrist on an "Honest Romania" ticket with a staunch pro-EU and NATO stance.

The French-educated mathematician turned to activism to protect heritage buildings in the capital Bucharest before entering politics. He campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, eliminating red tape and merit-based reform of public administration.

He has been criticised for his relationship with businessman Mihai Paun, a longtime collaborator. Paun has in the past praised Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media and has had business dealings in Belarus and Russia.

Critics have also said that in order to protect against rampant and unregulated real estate development Dan as mayor has delayed issuing permits for legitimate construction, including hospitals and an EU-funded Holocaust museum.  

Dan supports increasing defence spending to 3.5% of economic output in stages by 2030, from just over 2% in 2024, and supports Ukraine.

(Compiled by Luiza Ilie and Elizaveta Gladun, Editing by Giles Elgood)