iasmina2007

Pro-Western candidate Nicusor Dan has unexpectedly beaten hard-right populist George Simion in the Romanian election.

Mr Simion, 38, and his rival - a centrist who's mayor of Bucharest - faced off in the second round of the contest.

According to the official tally, Mr Dan was leading by nearly nine percentage points with more than 98% of the votes counted.

They aren't enough votes remaining for Mr Simion to make a comeback.

The first of the two candidates in the runoff is 38-year-old George Simion, head of the extreme right-wing, pro-Russian Alliance for the Union of Romanians party.

A former football hooligan, Simion now describes himself as a "sovereignist" and is a fan of both US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

He was the clear winner of the first round of the election on May 4, garnering almost 41% of the vote.

His opponent on Sunday is 55-year-old Nicusor Dan, the independent mayor of Bucharest. Dan is a mathematician, former anti-corruption activist and a man with clear pro-European, largely liberal and at times moderately conservative positions.

He came second in the first round, albeit far behind Simion on 21%.

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