Over 158,000 Romanian citizens in the Republic of Moldova voted in the second round of the Romania presidential election, hitting a record-high turnout. Of these, 88% voted for Nicusor Dan, the pro-European candidate who won the office of President of Romania, IPN reports.
The presidential election in Romania ended on Sunday, May 18, with the victory of Nicusor Dan, who obtained 53.60% of the ballot or over 6 million votes. In the diaspora, participation was high. In the Republic of Moldova, the voter turnout was one of the highest outside the country.
Official data show that 158,143 Romanians in the Republic of Moldova voted in the runoff on May 16-18 at the 64 polling stations available in the country. The turnout is considerably higher than in the first round, when 90,837 people voted. It is higher than the turnout in the runoff of the 2019 presidential election.
Nicusor Dan won 88% of the poll in Moldova, i.e. 138,320 votes. His opponent George Simion, the leader of AUR, gained 12% of the ballot or 18,868 votes.
During the election campaign, Nicusor Dan was openly supported by the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. Even before the announcement of the final results, Nicusor Dan thanked Maia Sandu for her support and appreciated the mobilization of voters in the Republic of Moldova.
George Simion, who promoted a conditional rhetoric on Romania’s support for Chisinau, remains a controversial figure in the Republic of Moldova and is still banned from entering the country. His request to annul the ban is to be examined by a court in Chisinau on May 19.
At the general level, the voter turnout in the diaspora was over 1.6 million voters, and the Republic of Moldova ranked fifth among the countries with the most active Romanian voters, after Italy, Germany, the UK, and Spain.
The presidential election in Romania this year was marked by a high turnout and significant mobilization of the voters abroad. According to experts, the result in the Republic of Moldova confirms the continuity of support for a Romania with a pro-European vision, which is actively involved in the region.
