Far-right Simion leads in Romania presidential election first round. He faces Nicușor Dan, the Bucharest centrist mayor (a geeky mathematician)

Far-right politician George Simion is set to come out on top in the first round of a presidential election re-run, months after a previous vote held in November was annulled over allegations of Russian interference.( Al- Jazeera)

Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan, who ran as an independent but with informal support from the reformist parties in Romania, will join him in the second round, after taking almost 21% of the votes. He narrowly surpassed Crin Antonescu, who benefited from the massive support of the three ruling parties in Romania – Social Democrats (PSD), Liberals (PNL), and Hungarians (UDMR). Antonescu, a former leader of the Liberals, who returned to the political scene after a 10-year break, took 20.5% of the votes.

This is a massive blow for the ruling coalition, which saw its candidate take an early lead versus Nicusor Dan as the first votes in the country were counted, only to have that lead evaporate as the results from the big cities and then from the Diaspora came in. romania-insider.com/