Romanian court validates presidential election, rejecting defeated
candidate’s challenge to results
[May 22, 2025]
By STEPHEN McGRATH
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Thursday validated the
results of Romania’s presidential election rerun, shortly after
rejecting a request to annul the results by the hard-right candidate who
decisively lost the race to his pro-European Union opponent.
After deliberations on Thursday, Romania’s Constitutional Court
unanimously rejected the annulment request, filed on Tuesday by George
Simion, in which he alleged that foreign interference and coordinated
manipulation affected the vote.
The Court then validated the results and held a short ceremony attended
by the elected President Nicusor Dan, the Bucharest mayor who won the
tense runoff, beating Simion with 53.6% of the vote, a margin of more
than 829,000 votes.
“I want to thank the Romanian people who turned out in great numbers for
the May elections and, in doing so, gave legitimacy to the new
president,” 55-year-old Dan, a mathematician and former civic activist,
said at the court during the ceremony.
“A new chapter is beginning in Romania’s recent and contemporary
history. I want to assure Romanian citizens that I understand the
responsibility of the mandate they have entrusted to me,” he said.
“There will be many challenges, and I hope that we will successfully
overcome all of them.”
Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity
of Romanians, had conceded defeat after losing in the runoff to Dan, but
later contested the results. The court said its decision on Thursday is
final.
In his request to annul the election, Simion claimed he had “irrefutable
evidence” that France, Moldova and “other actors” meddled in the ballot,
but did not present any evidence. He also alleged that “deceased people”
had participated in the vote, and that he requested it be canceled on
the same grounds as the court’s decision last year.
After the court rejected his annulment request, Simion said in a post on
Facebook that the Court “has continued the coup!”
“We have no choice but to fight!,” his post read. “I call on you to
stand with me, today and in the coming weeks!”
Election rerun held after previous vote annulled
Sunday’s tense vote was held months after the same court voided the
previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu led
the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and
Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
The Court's unprecedented decision last year to cancel the election
plunged EU and NATO member Romania into its worst political crisis in
decades, compounded by a string of crises such as the war in neighboring
Ukraine and a significant budget deficit.
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Presidential candidate George Simion waits to address members of the
business community at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Romania, days ahead of the second round of the presidential election
redo in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim
Ghirda)
Dan is expected to be officially sworn in next week, after which he
must also contend with deep societal divisions laid bare by the
vote, revealing a country where endemic corruption, inequality and
an erosion of trust in traditional institutions and parties have
fueled a broad rejection of the political establishment.
"Romanian society has shown wisdom, and I am convinced that in the
period ahead, it will continue to push for the positive change that
Romania needs,” Dan added Thursday. "I will fight for the
strengthening of state institutions ... I will also fight for the
country’s economic prosperity, I will be a partner to the business
environment, and I will be a guarantor of civil liberties."
Dan will also face the challenge of nominating a prime minister who
can garner the support necessary to form a government — a tall order
in a country where strong anti-establishment sentiment led to the
emergence of figures like Georgescu and Simion.
Simion capitalized on the furor over last year's annulment and,
after coming fourth in the canceled race, allied with Georgescu, who
was banned in March from running in the election redo. In the
first-round vote on May 4 in the rerun, Simion won a landslide in a
field of 11 candidates to enter the runoff.
Allegations of election fraud in rerun
Hours after voting opened on Friday for Romanians abroad, Simion
accused the government of neighboring Moldova of election fraud,
which both Moldovan and Romanian authorities rejected.
In comment to The Associated Press on Sunday, he reiterated claims
that people were being illegally transported to voting stations in
Moldova, allegedly affecting 80,000 votes.
More than half a million Moldovans hold Romanian citizenship, and
about 158,000 people voted at polling stations set up in Moldova in
the second round. Many more dual citizens would also have cast
ballots in other countries.
As a member of the EU and one of the easternmost members of the NATO
military alliance, Romania plays a pivotal role in Western security
infrastructure — especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of
neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Many observers saw Sunday’s vote as crucial to maintaining Romania’s
place within the network of Western alliances — especially amid
fears that the Trump administration is reconsidering its security
commitments to the United States’ European partners.
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