Romania's new pro-European president puts it back on a Western course, but fault lines remain

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A pro-European Union centrist pulled off an upset in Romania’s presidential election, beating out a hard-right nationalist who had channeled people’s anger at the political establishment to surge in the polls.

But the new leader now must contend with deep societal divisions that the tense vote laid bare.

Final results from Sunday's presidential race showed Nicusor Dan winning 53.6% of the vote, ahead of the hard-right candidate George Simion, who during the campaign portrayed his movement as championing conservative values like patriotism, sovereignty and the family, and who styled himself as the Romanian analogue to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The victory for the pro-EU candidate marked a significant comeback in a tense election that many viewed as a geopolitical choice for the former Eastern Bloc country between East or West.

But as Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician, pro-Western reformist and mayor of Bucharest, takes over Romania's presidency, fault lines remain in the country where endemic corruption, inequality and an erosion of trust in traditional institutions and parties have fueled a broad rejection of the political establishment.

Dan's decisive win on Sunday was a major turnaround from the first round of elections on May 4, where Simion — a nationalist who has advocated for uniting Romania with neighboring Moldova and is banned from entering Ukraine — had nearly double Dan's share of votes to become the clear front-runner for the second round.

Simion’s surge to prominence came after Romania’s first attempt to hold the presidential election late last year in which far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls. The country's political landscape was upended after a top court voided the ballot, alleging electoral violations and Russian interference.

Capitalizing on the furor over the annulment of that election, Simion allied with Georgescu, who was banned in March from running in the election redo, and promised to appoint him prime minister if Simion secured the presidency.

While Simion was considered the favorite for the second round, a high voter turnout of 64.7% in Sunday's ballot — more than in any Romanian election of the past quarter-century — is thought to have benefited Dan.

Adding to the high turnout were approximately 1.6 million votes from members of Romania’s large diaspora, which is primarily concentrated in Western Europe. Estimates suggest that between 4 and 5 million Romanians live abroad — nearly a quarter of the country’s population. Most emigrated after Romania joined the EU in 2007, seeking relief from high unemployment and low wages.

After Dan is sworn in as president in the coming days, he will face the challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government — a tall order in a country where anger with establishment politicians led to the emergence of figures like Georgescu and Simion.

Yet Dan himself, who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects and ran independently on a pro-EU ticket to support Ukraine and reaffirm Western ties, is among the critics of Romania's entrenched political elite, and has argued for fiscal reforms and a crackdown on corruption.

Speaking to ecstatic supporters in the early hours of Monday following his victory, he struck a reformist tone, saying Romania was beginning “a new chapter, and it needs every one of you.”

“It needs experts to get involved in various public policies, it needs people in civil society, it needs new people in politics,” he said.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says Dan will face a string of immediate challenges, including putting together a new government in what is now a “totally new political landscape.”

“He will have to push and show reforms while meeting resistance in the state apparatus and being opposed by the new populist parties that now won 5 million votes,” Andrei said. “He will be under pressure to deliver change to an exasperated Romania while trying to unify a divided country.”

As a member of the EU and one of the easternmost members of the NATO military alliance, Romania plays a pivotal role in Western security infrastructure — especially since Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.

After that invasion, NATO bolstered its presence on Europe’s eastern flank by sending additional multinational battlegroups to Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, and Bucharest has played an increasingly prominent role in the alliance, donating a Patriot missile system to Ukraine and opening an international training hub for F-16 jet pilots from allied countries.

Dan said Monday he had a call with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and that he conveyed to Rutte that Romania “will remain a steadfast ally” within the alliance. ”At the same time, we rely on NATO to guarantee Romania’s unwavering security,” he said.

Many observers saw Sunday's vote as crucial to maintaining Romania's place within the network of Western alliances — especially amid fears that the Trump administration is reconsidering its security commitments to the United States' European partners.

Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, told The Associated Press on Monday that the election result was a relief for many in Brussels, the EU's de-facto capital, and that Romania is now expected to play an active role in the bloc particularly in security and defense.

“There was an erosion of Romania’s credibility in the last year,” Muresan said. “That is partly restored now through the clear victory of the pro-European candidate.”

Muresan added that Romanians will expect Dan to deliver on promised reforms, but that his clear victory marks a setback for hard-right nationalism.

“People really rallied behind Europe … and understood the risks which extremists pose," he said. “So much lies now with the new president, who is a unifier, who has campaigned on the basis of facts.”

Supporters of presidential candidate Nicusor Dan touch foreheads after polls closed for the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Presidential candidatee Nicusor Dan waves to supporters after winning the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, early Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Supporters of presidential candidate Nicusor Dan cheer holding an electoral poster after he won the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, early Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Presidential candidate George Simion grimaces next to Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of last year's annulled election, before casting his vote in the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Mogosoaia, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan, center, poses behind a Romanian flag after polls closed for the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A supporter of presidential candidate Nicusor Dan holds an electoral poster after he won the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, early Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan, center, speaks to supporters after polls closed for the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan speaks after polls closed for the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)