Romanians vote as far right and Russia loom large

Romanians are voting in parliamentary elections, just days after the NATO country saw far-right and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu win the first round of presidential polls.

With far-right parties tipped to win Sunday's vote, many fear that the country's major role in supporting neighboring Ukraineamid the full-scale invasion by Moscow could be undermined.

The vote comes as Romania is suffering from soaring inflation, while many fear being dragged into the war in Ukraine.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 9:00 p.m. An exit poll due to be published shortly afterward.

Far right leads preelection surveys

The far-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), whose leader George Simion — a fan of US President-elect Donald Trump — won nearly 14% of the presidential vote, has topped the latest polls on more than 22%.

A survey by pollster AtlasIntel put it ahead of both the ruling leftist Social Democrats (PSD) at 21.4% and their coalition ally, the center-right Liberal Party (PNL), at 13.4%.

The opposition center-right Save Romania Union (USR), whose presidential candidate, Elena Lasconi, came second in the presidential elections, had 17.5% support in the poll.

Another far-right party, the Party of Young People (POT), which supports Georgescu, could reach the 5% threshold to enter parliament, as could the other ultra-right contender, the SOS Romania party.

Altogether, the three far-right parties are predicted to win more than 30% of the vote.

Recount ordered

The parliamentary election is taking place against the backdrop of a recount of the first round of last week's presidential election after the surprise victory by Georgescu, a NATO opponent who conducted his campaign largely over social-media platform TikTok.

The recount was ordered by the Consitutional Court amid allegations of irregularities and possible interference in the election. The court is to decide next week whether a run-off between Georgescu and Lasconi will go ahead as planned on December 8.

Some fear that the recount order could boost far-right parties at Sunday's election by enabling them to cast themselves as victims.

Dire warnings

The elections threaten to upend Romania's previous political landscape, which has been dominated by two major parties for the past three decades.

Outgoing President Klaus Iohannis has said Sunday's vote would determine whether Romania will "remain a country of freedom and openness or collapse into toxic isolation and a dark past."

Lasconi's pro-European USR party has warned that the election represents "a historic confrontation" between those who wanting to "preserve Romania's young democracy" and those wishing to "return to the Russian sphere of influence."

Romania, which has 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has played an important role in Western support for Kyiv, among other things by enabling the export of millions of tons of Ukranian grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta and providing military aid.  

Romania was under the military and economic control of the Soviet Union until the late 1950s, and was under communist rule for four decades until 1989, when dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed and executed.

tj/wmr (AFP, AP, Reuters)