First, it felt like a strange dream. As a political enthusiast who is always up-to-date on the latest news, I could never have imagined the situation in which I wake up in my home and have no idea who the man who has just won the election is. Since 6.30 am, 25 November 2024, I have already known that feeling. Romania, the EU’s sixth most populous member state, has recently made waves in the European press. Amid a “super-election” year, with elections for the European Parliament, local councils, parliament, and the presidency all taking place in 2024, far-right and dark-horse candidate Călin Georgescu won the first round of Romania’s presidential election with 23 percent of the vote.
Author: Rolland Madaras
Romania boasts one of the EU’s fastest-growing economies over the past decade at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. Its geopolitical importance also increased unwittingly following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Romania’s largest neighbor. A key NATO member on the eastern flank of the alliance, Romania now finds Georgescu, a politician who has made misogynistic remarks, controversial statements about Romania’s Euro-Atlantic orientation, and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the fascistic Iron Guard paramilitary organization of the 40s, within striking distance of the presidential palace.

The country spent the last decade under the presidency of Klaus Iohannis, a Transylvanian politician of ethnic German origin, first elected in 2014. Campaigning on his record as a competent mayor, he portrayed himself as a “hardworking German” capable of handily putting the country on the right track, winning the election. Initially popular, he was re-elected in 2019 but became deeply unpopular in his second term, facing criticism for his strained relationship with the media and his perceived ineffectiveness as president. By two weeks before the current election, his disapproval rating had reached 79 percent, making him the most unpopular political figure in Romania’s recent history.
Romanian voters often choose the lesser of two evils, rarely voting enthusiastically for one candidate instead of just voting against the other. Public trust in politicians and institutions has continued to erode by each mandate. The most trusted public institution in the country is the Romanian Academy, while the parliament and presidency are at the opposite end of the trust spectrum. In the 2020 parliamentary election, voter turnout reached a historic low of 32 percent. Like many European countries, Romania is also increasingly divided along urban and rural lines. Although economically strong, significant cities are packed and suffer from congestion and other side effects of an economic boom. Meanwhile, rural areas experience depopulation, exacerbated by emigration, with many working-class youth leaving the country in droves. Most Romanians feel that the state and elected officials can’t or won’t address their issues. The pandemic worsened the general sense of apathy: Covid-related misinformation, often amplified by Russian disinformation campaigns, circulated uncontrolled on social media, leading to a loss of trust in public health institutions for the first time in generations. Riding this wave of distrust, the AUR party, currently keeping a low profile in Brussels but considered far-right in Romania, entered the parliament in 2020 after securing 9 percent of the vote. This marked the first time in two decades that a far-right party was present in Romania’s legislature.
Another group that has had its credibility shattered is the pollsters. Before the election, Georgescu had either no support or just 1-5 percent in the polls. Most pollsters predicted that Social Democrat PM Marcel Ciolacu was the clear favorite to win first place. Center-right candidate Elena Lasconi, the first female major-party presidential candidate in Romania, also polled well relative to her party’s previous result of 9 percent in the European Parliament elections. Even on election night, exit polls showed only 16 percent support for Georgescu. AUR’s candidate, Gheorghe Simion, was initially perceived as a primary far-right challenger, finished fourth, and received 14 percent of the vote.
Although Georgescu’s messaging is similar to that of other right-wing populists in the Western world, the shock caused by his victory is unprecedented. Georgescu has no registered party or campaign apparatus to rely on, claiming his staff consists entirely of volunteers. He also does not have campaign headquarters and addressed the press on election night from the front of his home, visibly surprised. He didn’t use state funds and campaigned almost exclusively online. He made several controversial statements, including declaring that “Romania’s chance is Russian wisdom” and calling the American-led NATO air force base in the country’s southeast a “national shame.” He presented himself as a champion of the average citizen and built a follower base of 3 million people on a popular social media platform with roots in China. Georgescu seems to have convinced 2.12 million Romanians to vote for him.
He has positioned himself as anti-establishment despite his career being closely tied to the political elite. In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, he served as an advisor to two ministries. He was also a member of the controversial ‘Club of Rome,’ composed of some of post-communist Romania’s most influential politicians and businesspeople. He served as a UN special rapporteur in the early 2010s. After disappearing from public life for a decade, he resurfaced after 2020, frequently appearing alongside AUR leader Simion. His name had circulated as a potential PM candidate for AUR, but after praising the fascist Iron Guard movement, he fell out with Simion.
On the eve of the elections, millions of Romanians, just like the author of these lines, went to bed unaware of Georgescu, only to wake up to daily news coverage about him. The speed of Georgescu’s rise was striking the country and has become a central topic of discussion. Romania now faces two weeks that are likely to be the most tense in its history. To secure the presidency, center-right candidate Lasconi, who came out second in the vote, will need to unite a broad coalition of voters from different ideological backgrounds — a daunting task. In two weeks, Romanians will have to choose between a charismatic far-right candidate, who advocates for a more isolated Romania with friendlier relations toward Moscow, and a former news anchor turned small-town mayor, who represents continuity in Romania’s gradual steps toward European integration over the past two decades. Given Romania’s size and geopolitical importance in the region, the outcome of this election is one to watch.
Cover photo credit: Unsplash

Rolland Madaras is a trilingual foreign policy expert with a deep passion for international relations. He studied at the prestigious Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania, where he specialized in International Relations and European Studies. With a relentless curiosity and commitment to understanding global dynamics, Rolland considers himself a true “foreign policy junkie,” always seeking to explore new perspectives and contribute to meaningful discussions.