In Romania, a centrist beats a far-right candidate in the presidential election

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In Romania, centrist Nicusor Dan won the presidential election, beating his far-right rival. In Poland, the liberal candidate is slightly ahead of the nationalist party in the first round of elections. The center-right alliance ruling in Portugal wins the parliamentary elections, and the far right has achieved record success.

In Romania, Nicuşor Dan received about 54% of the vote in the presidential election. His rival George Simion, who wanted to set Romania on a path inspired by Trump's policies, won 46% of the country's votes. Simion proposed stopping military assistance to Ukraine. Dan has campaigned with an emphasis on fighting corruption and supporting Ukraine in the war, where Romania plays an important logistical role. The vote attracted the highest percentage of voter turnout for an election in Romania in 25 years.

Simion, who led the vote in the first round of elections two weeks ago with 41% support, admitted defeat. He previously stated that he won the election. Last night in the capital Bucharest, Dan's supporters chanted "Russia, don't forget, Romania is not yours." As a supporter of the country's European course, Dan stated that Ukraine's support was crucial for Romania's security from the growing Russian threat. The elections took place almost six months after the original vote was annulled by the Constitutional Court due to alleged Russian interference. Moscow has denied it helped finance the campaign of far-right populist leader Calin Georgescu, who has been banned from running again.

The vote in Romania took place on the same day as the first round of elections in Poland, where liberal Rafal Trzaskowski beat Karol Nawrocki, a representative of the nationalist Law and Justice party. Trzaskowski, Warsaw's mayor and deputy to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, received 31.3% of the vote. Nawrocki took second place with 29.5% of the votes. A second round will be required to determine the country's next president.

The center-right alliance ruling Portugal wins early parliamentary elections. The Democratic Alliance, a coalition of Portuguese right-wing and center parties, won 89 of the 230 seats in parliament. The far right has achieved record success - the anti-immigrant party Chega will win a total of 58 seats in parliament, gaining 22.6% of the vote. The Socialists have lost their share of representation in parliament: they will receive 58 seats instead of the previous 78. This prompted Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos to announce that he would resign.