Reformist Elena Lasconi (USR) and far-right independent Călin Georgescu, both of which upended the Romanian political scene by besting the candidates of the largest parties to make it in the second round of the presidential elections,

The independent candidate Călin Georgescu obtained 22.38% of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections.

By Iulian Ernst in Bucharest The final results of the November 24 presidential election first round in Romania confirmed that far-right, pro-Russian independent candidate Călin Georgescu was the winner with 22.

With more than 99% of votes counted, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu has an unassailable lead of nearly 350,000 votes over centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the pre-election favourite, in third.

Hundreds rallied in the Romanians capital, Bucharest, a day after the surprise victory of a pro-Russian far-right candidate in the first round of presidential elections. Protesters at the November 25 rally denounced Calin Georgescu,

Reformist presidential hopeful Elena Lasconi told Romanians on Monday they faced an “existential fight” for their democracy and needed to rally to defeat a far-right candidate who would push the country back toward Russia and the dark days of dictatorship.

Romania is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election, beating the incumbent prime minister. Calin Georgescu, who ran independently, will face reformist Elena Lasconi in a Dec.

Romania’s political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election.

A little-known, far-right populist took the lead in Romania’s presidential election Sunday, electoral data showed, and will likely face leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in a runoff in two weeks,

Far-right candidate Calin Georgescu surged unexpectedly in Romania's presidential election, pulling ahead of the pro-European prime minister with more than 98 percent of votes counted Monday and looking all but certain to advance to a runoff.