Simion's victory was a defeat for Romanian elites – analyst Prysyazhniuk

The old Romanian elites suffered a fiasco in the presidential elections in Romania. The candidate from the government, who was supported by the main parties, did not even make it to the second round, explains to LIGA.net the defeat of the government by the analyst of the Ilko Kucheriv Deminitiative Foundation and a postgraduate student at the University of Bucharest, Marianna Prysiajniuk.

In the first round of the presidential election, the far-right Gheorghe Simion won. He was supported not only in Romania, but also by 4-6 million Romanians in the diaspora, among whom he received more than 70% of the vote. In the second round on May 18, Simion will compete with the center-right reformer, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan. And he has a good chance of winning, Romanian analyst Sorin Ionita tells LIGA.net .

Although Simeon showed the best possible results, surprises are also possible, Prysyazhnyuk believes. But it will be really difficult to beat Dana.

Dan can still mobilize his electorate – many voters ignored the first round due to the long weekend of May 1-4, says Ionita. Many voters who voted for moderate candidates may also support him. So the fight will be fierce.

• In Romania, the counting of votes in the first round of the presidential election ended on May 5, with Simion (40.96% of the vote) and Dan (20.99%) advancing to the second round.
• Simion opposes military aid to Ukraine and hopes for US President Donald Trump's "peace initiatives."
• Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned on May 5 after the ruling coalition candidate failed to advance to the second round.