A man with Romanian and European Union flags draped over his shoulders waves in front of a large EU flag, during a pro-EU rally ahead of the second round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Demonstrators hold large Romanian and European Union flags during a pro-EU rally ahead of the second round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
People shine the lights of their mobile phones standing under a large European Union during a pro-EU rally ahead of the second round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
A woman holding a Romanian flag shines the light of her mobile phone as she stands under a large European Union flag during a pro-EU rally ahead of the second round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Thousands join a pro-EU rally in Romania鈥檚 capital as pivotal presidential runoff looms
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) 鈥 Thousands of people gathered in Romania’s capital on Friday for a pro-European Union march. It came a week before the final vote of a closely watched presidential election that pits a hard-right nationalist front-runner against the capital鈥檚 pro-EU mayor.
A man with Romanian and European Union flags draped over his shoulders waves in front of a large EU flag, during a pro-EU rally ahead of the second round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) 鈥 Thousands of people gathered in Romania’s capital on Friday for a pro-European Union march. It came a week before the final vote of a closely watched presidential election that pits a hard-right nationalist front-runner against the capital鈥檚 pro-EU mayor.
Marchers converged in Bucharest in front of the government building, where many waved the blue and yellow flags of Europe. Many chanted slogans such as 鈥淲e are in Europe鈥 and 鈥淏ucharest is not Budapest,鈥 referring to Hungary鈥檚 Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, a member but also a longtime critic of the EU.
A communist country until 1989, Romania joined the EU in 2007. But last year it was plunged into its worst political crisis in decades when a top court voided the previous election. The far-right topped the first round following allegations of , which Moscow has denied.
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(AP Video / May 9, 2025)
The rally was held nearly a week after the that saw hard-right nationalist , 38, emerge as the front-runner. In second place was 55-year-old incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.
鈥淲e need to develop 鈥 we want to be like the best countries, and we don鈥檛 have the possibilities on our own,鈥 said Stefan Gheorghe, a 23-year-old lawyer. 鈥淵ou need the European Union to help us out. It is very important to us to stay together 鈥 and to benefit from each other.鈥
A median of polls ahead of the runoff suggests Simion holds a lead in the vote, which will be held between the two staunchly antiestablishment candidates on May 18. Observers have warned that the outcome could reshape the EU and NATO member country鈥檚 geopolitical direction.
After reaching second place on Sunday night, Dan called the final vote a choice 鈥渂etween a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western one.鈥
Simion鈥檚 critics have long accused him of being Russia-friendly and warn that his presidency would undermine both the EU and NATO as Moscow鈥檚 war drags on in Ukraine. But in an , Simion rejected the accusations and said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not for the good of the Romanian people to be close to Russia.”
鈥淲e want to be a member of the European Union. Some fake news were saying that we want to exit the European project,鈥 said Simion, who leads Romania’s second-largest party, the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to leave. We are here to stay. We invested a lot.鈥
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Simion, who came fourth in last year鈥檚 race and later backed Georgescu, said in an earlier interview with the AP that he wants to see “more power” go to the bloc鈥檚 27 individual members, 鈥渘ot toward the European institutions.鈥
Similar rallies were held in several cities across Romania on Friday to mark Europe Day, a date that proclaims to celebrate peace and unity in Europe.
Although Simion and Dan are ideological opposites, they both made their political careers railing against Romania鈥檚 old political class, which has fallen out of favor as strong antiestablishment sentiment among voters grips the country.
For Diana Draghici, 38, the upcoming runoff will be a pivotal moment for Romania鈥檚 future and a choice between forging stronger EU ties or potentially shifting East.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that the young people who were undecided and didn鈥檛 vote so far ... to have a wake-up call and choose who they want to have represented,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t could decide two extremely different scenarios for Romania鈥檚 future.鈥
