An opponent of NATO and a supporter of Russia, this leader's victory will make Europe and America restless.

There is a possibility of another threat rising for European countries on the Ukraine border. The rise of the right-wing leader in Romania, located in South-Eastern Europe, has raised the concern of America and its European allies. In fact, Romania shares its border with Ukraine and in the first phase of the presidential election held on Sunday, a person who is a supporter of Russia is gaining an edge.

Calin Georgescu is Romania's right-wing leader and critic of NATO. In the presidential election, he is pitted against leftist Prime Minister Marcel Cialacu, who seems to be lagging behind according to initial election results. These results are being seen as a threat to Romania's firm pro-Ukraine stance. After counting 98 percent of the ballots, Georgescu is ahead by about 3 percent of the votes.

Romania: 94 lakh voters cast their votes

According to data from Romania's Central Election Bureau, by the end of the first round of voting on Sunday, about 94 lakh voters, or about 52.4% of the country's eligible voters, participated in the elections through ballot voting. The second phase of voting will take place on December 8.

Georgescu leads in the first round of voting.

According to Al-Jazeera's report, Calin Georgescu, who has contested the election as an independent candidate, is leading with around 23 percent votes in the first round of presidential election results. Social Democratic Party leader Cialacu is trailing with around 20 percent votes. Meanwhile, Save Romanian Union Party (USR) leader Elina Lasconi is seen getting around 19 percent votes. George Simion, leader of the right-wing coalition AUR, is getting around 14 percent votes.

A total of 13 candidates are participating in the presidential election being held in Romania, a member country of the European Union and NATO. The term of the President in Romania is 5 years and the President has the power to take decisions on many major issues including national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments.

Georgescu is pro-Russia, NATO critic

62-year-old Georgescu, who is running as an independent and is not widely known, has been performing well in local surveys. Georgescu was reportedly a member of the right-wing opposition coalition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR). The coalition had named him as its choice for prime minister, but Georgescu left the AUR in 2022. A senior AUR member had said that Georgescu's pro-Russian and anti-NATO stance had damaged the party's image.

In an interview in 2021, Georgescu called NATO's ballistic missile defense shield in Deveselu, Romania, "shameful diplomacy" and said the North Atlantic Alliance would not protect any of its members if Russia attacked. He called two Romanian leaders of World War II national heroes despite serious allegations against them, including the Holocaust.

AUR leader Simeon congratulates

In a pre-election survey in October, a survey agency Inscop put Georgescu in the 'other' category and projected him to get 0.4 percent of the vote. In November, the agency put him in sixth place and projected him to get 5.4 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, AUR presidential candidate George Simion congratulated Georgescu after Sunday's election, saying he would support anyone other than Marcel Ciolacu in the second round.