The leaders of Romania’s liberal USR party announced Wednesday that they want to support Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan in the country’s upcoming presidential election instead of the party’s own candidate, Elena Lasconi.
Top party officials said they want to avoid the “toxic scenario” of two anti-European candidates qualifying for the presidential runoff, potentially leading Bucharest to pivot away from its pro-EU and pro-NATO path.
Romanians go to the polls May 4 in a do-over presidential election. An initial vote last November was canceled over concerns Russia had targeted Romania with an “aggressive hybrid action” and helped ultranationalist Călin Georgescu to a shock victory in the first round.
With Georgescu having been hit with a contentious ban on standing for election, far-right candidate George Simion is now flying high in the polls for the re-do ballot — and Romania’s mainstream parties are scrambling to stop him.
The Eastern European country of 19 million people borders Ukraine and is one of NATO’s key eastern flank members, with access to the Black Sea. A victory by a far-right candidate in the presidential election threatens to bring Bucharest more in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement while harming EU plans to continue aiding Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Dan, who founded the USR party but is now running as an independent, is polling at around 20 percent. In November Lasconi received 19 percent of the vote, qualifying for the original second round before authorities called a halt, but recent polls in the runup to the new election have her at below 10 percent.
The party’s polls showed “there’s no path” for Lasconi to make it into the second round this time to represent pro-European forces, said Dominic Fritz, first vice president of USR, at a press conference.
The party leadership said in a statement that there’s “a real risk that the second round of the presidential elections will be seized by two extremists who want to take Romania out of the European Union,” and warned of “historic stakes.”
Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), has been polling well ahead of other candidates at around 30 percent.
The USR decision comes amid fears that Victor Ponta, a leftist-turned-ultranationalist, could qualify for the second round along with Simion.
“We cannot allow this to happen. Today we took the decision to support Nicușor Dan because he is the pro-European candidate with the best chances to stop this toxic scenario,” Fritz said.
Ponta said earlier his week he would halt Ukrainian grain exports through Romanian ports — a key export route for the war-ravaged country — to protect local farmers.
The party said a large majority in its national bureau had decided to back Dan, adding that Lasconi herself doesn’t support the move.
“We cannot put personal or party pride first. We are facing a historic challenge and we must respond to this challenge responsibly. Unfortunately, Elena Lasconi … did not respond positively to this reality,” Fritz said.
In a press conference after the party’s announcement, Lasconi vowed to stay in the campaign.
“I’m not withdrawing. I will continue the fight,” she said from the party’s headquarters. “I was born for hard fights.”
Lasconi added that it’s not the USR leadership but the whole membership that decides on the party’s candidate. She called those who had withdrawn their support for her “traitors” and “losers.”
The USR will put the decision to back Dan over Lasconi to a vote in the party’s political committee “as soon as possible,” according to a USR press statement.
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