Vorastra
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Far-right candidate takes shock lead in Romania presidential election
Calin Georgescu, a NATO and EU critic, is ahead in the first round of voting, overtaking the prime minister.

A far-right, pro-Russia candidate is set for a shock victory in the first round of Romania's presidential election, with preliminary results leaving the prime minister, his main pro-Europe rival, out of the race.
With more than 99% of votes counted, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu has an unassailable lead of nearly 350,000 votes over centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the pre-election favourite, in third.
The strong showing of Georgescu, who has no party of his own, and campaigned largely on the social media platform TikTok, came as the biggest surprise of the election.