By Luiza Ilie
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanians vote in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, with the second round due to be held on Dec. 8. A parliamentary ballot is also set for Dec. 1.
There are 13 candidates vying for the presidency, whose powers include oversight of foreign policy. These are the main contenders:
MARCEL CIOLACU
The 56-year-old leader of the leftist Social Democrats (PSD), Romania’s largest party, and current prime minister in a coalition with the centre-right Liberals (PNL).
He is ahead in opinion surveys, with many voters attracted by his promise of stability.
Although he has in the past balked at some governance and pension reforms required by Brussels, Ciolacu is a staunch supporter of Romania’s EU and NATO membership and of its strategic partnership with the United States. He strongly supports Ukraine in its war against Russia.
High spending ahead of elections under Ciolacu’s government is expected to push the budget deficit to 8% of economic output this year, the EU’s highest. He opposes same-sex marriage and last year said legalising civil unions was not among his priorities.
GEORGE SIMION
The 38-year-old leader of the radical right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), which was founded five years ago and entered parliament in 2020. He ranks second in most opinion surveys and is hugely popular with the Romanian diaspora and young voters.
Simion opposes military aid to Ukraine and says he would support peace efforts by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he will end the war without saying how. He supports restoring Romania to its 1940 borders, which include territories now in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, and is banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine.
He wants Romania to remain in the EU, although he wants national capitals to have more say and opposes euro zone membership.
A conservative Christian, he supported a failed 2018 referendum to change Romania’s constitution to prevent same-sex couples from ever being able to marry.
ELENA LASCONI
The 52-year-old mayor of the town of Campulung, in central Romania, and leader of centre-right opposition Save Romania Union (USR).
A former journalist, she joined USR in 2018 and became party head this year. The only female presidential candidate ranked in the top five by opinion surveys, Lasconi believes in raising defence spending and helping Ukraine.
Lasconi positions herself as an anti-establishment candidate. She wants more done to fight high-level corruption and to remove political influence from healthcare and education. She is pro-EU and NATO.
She is the only top-five candidate who supports civil unions for same-sex couples, although she opposes legalizing marriage.
NICOLAE CIUCA
The 57-year-old Senate speaker and leader of the centre-right Liberal Party (PNL), which formed a grand coalition government with Ciolacu’s Social Democrats in 2021.
He served as prime minister from late-2021 until mid-2023.
A retired army general, Ciuca entered politics in 2019 and was quickly propelled to top party and government jobs with the strong support of outgoing President Klaus Iohannis.
Ciuca strongly supports Ukraine and is pro-Western.
Deeply religious, he opposes legalising same-sex marriage as well as civil unions, and has said the EU must rethink its migration policy.
MIRCEA GEOANA
The 66-year-old former NATO deputy secretary general is running as an independent. A former PSD leader, he lost a presidential election in 2009.
He has said that he supports a peace solution for Ukraine, even if it involves giving up territory to Russia, a shift from his original position as a NATO official prompted by Trump’s re-election.
He has often said his vast political experience – as former foreign minister, envoy to Washington and NATO official – made him most qualified to be president.
Geoana says Romanian society is not ready for same-sex marriage or civil unions.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Alex Richardson)
