Calin Georgescu, who had been widely dismissed as a fringe candidate, won the most votes on Sunday with 22.9 percent. He will face a more centrist opponent in the second round on Dec. 8.

Calin Georgescu, who has stunned Romania and its European allies by leading the first round of the eastern European country's presidential election, is a far-right, self-styled outsider critical of NATO and of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Calin Georgescu’s surprise victory means the current pro-West prime minister will not make it to the election runoff.

In what may go down as one of Europe's more stunning election cycles in years, a largely unknown illiberal ultranationalist infused with conspiracy theories won the first round of presidential elections in Romania.

Calin Georgescu, a Romanian hard-right NATO critic, appeared in a dead heat with leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu after the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, partial tallies showed,

A hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia is set to face a centre-right opposition leader in a presidential election run-off in Romania that could undermine its pro-Western stance after a shock outcome in the first-round vote.

The far-right candidate Calin Georgescu unexpectedly beats his pro-Europe rival

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