Romanian PM ahead in first round of presidential vote

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu looks likely to win the most votes in the first round of the presidential election, with the Black Sea state's staunch support for Ukraine possibly at stake in the second round. While exit polls on Sunday put Social Democrat Ciolacu, 56, comfortably ahead on 25 per cent, the identity of his opponent in the second-round runoff was uncertain. Centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, 52, was on 18 per cent in exit polls, followed closely by two hard-right candidates, Calin Georgescu, 62, and George Simion, 38, on 16 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Exit poll data does not capture the preferences of hundreds of thousands of Romanians who live and vote abroad. Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, is particularly popular with diaspora voters. Romania's president has a semi-executive role that gives him or her control over defence spending - likely to be a difficult issue as Bucharest comes under pressure to uphold NATO spending goals during Donald Trump's second term as US president while trying to reduce a heavy fiscal deficit. Lasconi told supporters after exit polls were released that she was optimistic about making the runoff on December 8. "But as you can see, the results are very tight, let us wait until tomorrow's results to rejoice." Campaigning focused largely on the soaring cost of living, with Romania having the EU's biggest share of people at risk of poverty. Lasconi, a former journalist, joined the Save Romania Union (USR) in 2018 and became party head this year. She believes in raising defence spending and helping Ukraine, and surveys suggest she would beat Ciolacu in a runoff. But if Simion or Georgescu comes second, analysts say Lasconi is likely to urge her supporters to vote for Ciolacu to prevent a hard-right victory. Georgescu has made pro-Russian and anti-NATO comments.