The left-leaning Social Democratic Party holds parliament, while the Coalition to Unite Romanians makes big gains.
Romania’s ruling left-wing party is poised to retain its majority in parliament after general elections, but will face a resurgent right-wing opposition with an increased number of seats.
Sunday’s incomplete election results showed the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 24 percent of the vote and a hard-right alliance uniting 18 percent of Romanians.
The National Liberal Party, a member of the ruling coalition of the Christian Democratic Party and the SDP, had 14 percent of the vote, and the reformist Save Romania Union had 10 percent of the vote.
According to government figures, 52.3 percent of eligible voters – more than 9 million people – voted for their next prime minister and parliament, with the poll on track to have the highest turnout for a parliamentary election in 20 years. .
Final results will not be known until election officials count the ballots of hundreds of thousands of Romanians living abroad, who are expected to lean toward conservative parties.
The election comes at a time of growing support for ultra-nationalist and anti-establishment parties that challenge Romania’s pro-European Union and Ukraine stances under the current ruling coalition.
Romania is a member of NATO and has strongly supported Ukraine in its efforts to counter Russian aggression, recently by announcing plans to donate one of its Patriot missile systems to its neighbor.
Other issues in the election campaign include Romania’s deficit, which is the highest in the EU at 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Romanian voters stunned international observers last week by backing right-wing populist Calin Georgescu in the first round of voting for Romania’s next president.
Georgescu, 62, was predicted to win less than 10 percent of the vote, but defeated left-leaning reformist Elena Lasconi, 52, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, 57.
He will next face Lasconi in the second round of voting on December 8.
An independent, Georgescu was previously associated with the Coalition to Unite Romanians and has attracted controversy with his praise of former ultra-nationalist and fascist Romanian leaders.
He described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as “a man who loves his country” and described Ukraine as an “invented state”, according to Romanian media.
Georgescu’s success is partly attributed to his effective use of the video-sharing platform TikTok, where he has amassed nearly 274,000 followers and over 3.7 million views.
During his campaign, he used the platform to argue that Romania, which shares a 650km (404-mile) border with Ukraine, should pursue a path of “peace” and end its involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is a former state of the Soviet Union, while Romania is a so-called satellite state influenced by the Soviet government in Moscow.
Georgescu’s online support has come under scrutiny for unusual activity, which has suggested the use of bots ahead of the election by organizations such as the pro-democracy Bucharest-based think tank Expert Forum.
Romania is now in a “historic confrontation between preserving Romania’s young democracy” and those who want to “return Romania to Russia’s sphere of influence,” Lasconi warned voters.
