Electoral earthquake: Romania soon in Putin's camp?
The ballot boxes spoke on Sunday, and it's a real earthquake that upsets power balances in Romania. Calin Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate who nobody had seen coming, won the first round of the presidential elections.
In the final, he will face an inexperienced candidate in a duel on December 8, if the - almost definitive - results are confirmed.
After 99% of the ballots had been counted, 62-year-old Calin Georgescu, who rejects the idea of any aid to Ukraine and is firmly opposed to NATO, won 22.94% of the votes cast, ahead of 52-year-old center-right candidate Elena Lasconi (19.17%).
The election's big favorite, pro-European Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (photo), came in third, just a thousand votes behind Lasconi (19.15%).
Calin Georgescu seems to have won over Romanians with messages posted on TikTok that went viral in the home straight of the elections, focusing on the need to halt all support for Kiev.
Will Romania tip over to the pro-Russian camp? The answer will be given on December 8 at the end of the second round...
(MH with LpR - Source : rtbf/Picture : picture alliance/dpa | Peter Kneffel)