The shock first-round victory of a far-right nationalist candidate has far-reaching and alarming implications

In a region shadowed by Vladimir Putin’s revanchist ambitions, Romania has been a pillar of pro‑western stability. Possessing a long border with Ukraine, the country has been a staunch ally to its neighbour under the outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis. As well as providing military aid, more than half a million refugees have been accommodated, and Ukrainian grain exports have been facilitated through the Black Sea port of Constanta. During the summer, President Iohannis at one point threw his hat into the ring to become Nato’s new secretary general, a post eventually filled by the Netherlands’ former prime minister, Mark Rutte.

Disturbingly, this bulwark status is now in extreme jeopardy after one of the most remarkable election results in Romania’s post-1989 history. The little‑known far-right independent Călin Georgescu, who topped the poll and now goes into a second-round runoff in December, is a virulent critic of Nato and aid to Ukraine, a vocal admirer of Donald Trump and has suggested Romanian foreign policy should take note of “Russian wisdom”. Mr Georgescu’s brand of insular Christian nationalism shares similarities with Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Ahead of a crucial period after Mr Trump’s re-election, his rise from nowhere risks undermining the fragile consensus underpinning European solidarity with Kyiv.