{"version":1,"tree":{"n":"html","c":[{"n":"head","x":"\n ","l":"\n ","c":[{"n":"title","x":"Desconocido","l":"\n \n "},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../stylesheet.css"]]},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../page_styles.css"]]}]},{"n":"body","a":[["class","calibre"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"| ","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"Siguiente","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articlenextlink"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"feed_5/article_3/index_u28.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"feed_5/index_u76.html\", \"frag\": \"article_2\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_5\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Anterior","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articleprevlink"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"feed_5/article_1/index_u64.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"MAGA man","a":[["class","calibre8"]]},{"n":"h1","x":"Romania’s next president may be George Simion, a Trump ally","a":[["class","calibre9"]]},{"n":"div","x":"His opponent, Nicosur Dan, is backed by anti-corruption urbanites","a":[["class","calibre19"]]},{"n":"p","x":"may. 08, 2025 01:49 | Bucharest","a":[["class","calibre10"]]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"img","a":[["alexandria_",""],["fair",""],["fest_",""],["in",""],["romania_",""],["spring",""],["src","images/img1_u5.jpg"],["the",""],["title","Presidential candidate George Simion meets people at "],["class","calibre3"],["data-calibre-src","feed_5/article_2/images/img1_u5.jpg"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre11"]]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"N","a":[["data-caps","initial"],["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"span","x":"ICOLAE CEAUSESCU","l":", Romania’s last communist dictator, was deluded and power-mad, but he left his country’s politicians an impressive stage for speeches. On May 4th George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AUR","l":"), stood before the giant parliament Mr Ceausescu built, reputedly the world’s heaviest building, and presented himself as Romania’s Donald Trump. His party “totally agree[s] with ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"MAGA","l":" ideology”, Mr Simion said. By midnight it was clear Mr Simion had won the first round of the presidential election, with 41% of the vote. The European Union’s club of populist leaders may soon get another member.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"It was Romania’s second try at electing a new president. The first was annulled by the constitutional court back in December, after it was unexpectedly won by Calin Georgescu, another hard-right populist, allegedly with Russian interference: bot networks had inflated Mr Georgescu’s reach on TikTok. Mr Simion denounced this as a “coup” and promised Mr Georgescu a role in government, winning over most of his voters. The runner-up was Nicusor Dan, the corruption-fighting mayor of Bucharest, the capital, who got 21%. The two will face off in a second round on May 18th.","a":[["class","calibre12"]]},{"n":"p","x":"Both Mr Simion and Mr Dan are seen as “anti-system” candidates. The government-backed candidate, Crin Antonescu of the National Liberals (","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":"), finished just behind Mr Dan. That threw Romanian politics into greater-than-usual chaos. Since 2021 the country has been run by grand coalitions between the main parties of power, the centre-left Social Democrats (","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PSD","l":") and the centre-right ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":". Many voters saw the tie-up as denying them a choice, while the government rolled back the anti-corruption campaign Romania had pursued in the 2010s. Mr Antonescu’s loss showed the coalition had forfeited its mandate, and on May 5th Marcel Ciolacu, the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PSD","l":" prime minister, resigned. The country now has an interim prime minister appointed by an interim president.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Mr Simion is tipped to win the second round, which worries the ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"EU","l":". Along with his routine culture-war positions against climate policies and ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"LGBT","l":" rights, there are geopolitical concerns. The ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AUR","l":" leader got his start in politics campaigning for Romania to absorb neighbouring Moldova, where most citizens speak Romanian. He is banned from Moldova—and from Ukraine, which he attacks for alleged mistreatment of ethnic Romanians. He has called for Romania to cease aid to Ukraine, and says Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, is only marginally better than Vladimir Putin.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Yet in office he might prove less disruptive than this suggests. Mr Simion “is a pragmatic guy”, says Radu Magdin, a Romanian political consultant. The candidate likens himself to Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, a hard-right leader who has played a constructive role in the ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"EU","l":". ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AUR","l":" belongs to Ms Meloni’s group in the European Parliament. Mr Simion is not pro-Russian: if Mr Putin refuses to end the war, he tells ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"i","x":"The Economist","l":", the ","a":[["class","calibre18"]]},{"n":"span","x":"EU","l":" should confiscate frozen Russian assets; Romania might seize Russian-owned businesses. He says his economic model is Javier Milei, Argentina’s libertarian president.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Mr Dan’s chances hinge on winning over those who opposed Mr Simion. That may be difficult. The Bucharest mayor is backed by the Union to Save Romania (","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"USR","l":"), a pro-European anti-corruption party. It can co-operate with the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":", which is endorsing Mr Dan for president. But it has a bad relationship with the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PSD","l":", the heirs to the country’s communists, whose power is based on distributing patronage to local officials throughout the country in exchange for turning out the vote. That is a big force in Romanian politics, though a declining one. According to Cristian Ghinea, a ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"USR","l":" senator, mayors nowadays say “we can’t control our people: they vote according to what they see on TikTok”.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"If Mr Dan wins, he can probably appoint a ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"USR","l":" prime minister to form a minority government backed by the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":". Mr Simion would appear to have a harder job: the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PSD","l":", ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":" and ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"USR","l":" have all ruled out a coalition with ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AUR","l":". But the hard-right leader may have more power than it seems. If parliament rejects two nominees for prime minister, the president can call new parliamentary elections. That could be disastrous for the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PSD","l":" and ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":", which might prefer to accept a minority government led by an ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AUR","l":" prime minister. Mr Simion could nominate Mr Georgescu, though their personal relations are frosty.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Whoever wins will face a grim fiscal situation. Romania’s budget deficit in 2024 topped 9% of ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"GDP","l":", the highest in the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"EU","l":", as the government fished for support by raising pensions. Its credit rating is hovering above junk status. After the government fell, the Romanian lei dropped to more than five to the euro; the central bank has intervened to stabilise it. To calm the markets, the new president will have to “reassure everybody that Romania will be a stable, loyal ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"EU","l":" member state”, says Sebastian Burduja, the energy minister and a member of the ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"PNL","l":". Mr Simion is “an unpredictable political actor”. ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"■"}]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","a":[["class","calibre18"]],"c":[{"n":"b","x":"Editor’s note","l":": This story has been updated.","a":[["class","calibre13"]]}]}]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","x":"To stay on top of the biggest European stories, sign up to ","a":[["class","calibre18"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"Café Europa","l":", our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/newsletters/cafe-europa"]]}]}]}]},{"n":"div","x":"\n","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]},{"n":"p","x":"This article was downloaded by ","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre16"]],"c":[{"n":"strong","x":"calibre","l":" from ","a":[["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"a","x":"https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/04/romanias-next-president-may-be-george-simion-a-trump-ally","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/04/romanias-next-president-may-be-george-simion-a-trump-ally"],["rel","calibre-downloaded-from"]]}]},{"n":"br","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"br","l":" | ","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"feed_5/index_u76.html\", \"frag\": \"article_2\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-eueMZIbjjuCPX9e9np7aa2","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_5\"}"]]}]}]}]},"ns_map":["http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"]}