Romanians abroad begin to vote in the second round of the presidential elections

The members of the Romanian diaspora began to vote for the race for the second round of Sunday’s presidential elections.

The second round of the presidential elections should be a renowned race between the extreme right -wing candidate George Simion and the Independent Proeuropeo Nicușor Dan.

The vote for the Romanians abroad began on Thursday at 10 pm, Romanian time, when the first voting table opened in Auckland, New Zealand.

Of the approximately one million eligible voters abroad, 158,000 had voted until 4 pm on Friday, according to the electoral centers.

“Voting is very important to me, because the European road is something I dreamed since I was a student and I believe in that direction,” said a voter in Paris.

“I voted for a better future, for peace in our country and for Romanians to have lived abroad for many years, we can return home,” said another voter in Rome.

Romania is immersed in a deep political crisis, after a superior court annulled the previous elections, in which the stranger of the right Cilin Georgescu won the first round, after accusations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

After being in the fourth place in the race canceled last year, Simion, the 38 -year leader of the Romanian Alliance, or Aur, supported Georgescu, which was prohibited in March to request the new elections. Simion then began to lead the career of May 4, after becoming the extreme right -wing standard.

Votes abroad can be decisive

The latest local surveys indicate that the second round was reduced to a raffle almost, after the previous ones showed Simion ahead of Dan, a 55 -year mathematician who became prominent as a civic activist in the fight against illegal real estate projects.

Simion, he also an old activist who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he will focus on reforms: the reduction of bureaucracy and taxes. But he insists that his main objective is to restore democracy. “My platform is the return to democracy, to the will of the people,” he said.

Simion activities in Moldavia led the accusations that he was trying to destabilize the country and the prohibition of his entry into the country. It is also forbidden to enter Ukraine for “systematically anti-ucucanian” activities.

This week, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who is pro-western, has published a public message of support to Dan, stating that the molds understand the value of “being part of the European family” and urged the molds with dual nationality to vote to “protect what Romania has achieved but now is threatened.”

Hours after it opened on Friday, Simion accused the government of molding of electoral fraud, which was quickly rejected by molding and the Romanian authorities. “These statements are intended to sow distrust and hostility, with the aim of influencing the electoral process,” said Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

In the first round, on May 4, Simion obtained 61% of the votes of the Great Romanian diaspora, with its calls to patriotism to resonate among the Romanians who moved abroad in search of better opportunities.

Claudiu Tufis, associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, says that it is likely that the result of Sunday joins the surveys, which is often higher in the second round. “The influx of the surveys will be the key,” he says.

During the past week, Simion sought to reinforce the support of the diaspora on a tour of the European capitals.

Both campaigns consider the votes of the Romanians abroad decisive for the second round of Sunday. Simion has been campaigning in London, Rome, Brussels and Paris, while its competitor Dan is campaigning in Romania.