Romania “in the clutches of the far right”?

Romanians are holding their breath: this Sunday, May 18, at midnight, at the end of the second round of the presidential election, they will know whether the far right has won in their country. Europeans are also anxiously awaiting the result, as unpredictable as the latest polls published in the run-up to the election. “George Simion, the candidate of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, and Nicusor Dan, the independent candidate, are neck and neck,” noted the daily Libertatea on May 16 , citing the independent polling institute AtlasIntel.

Simion had a lead of more than 20 points in the polls conducted the day after the first round, but this advantage dissipated in two weeks of conflicting emotions, debates, and a tour of the diaspora. On the ground, the situation is explosive: society is divided, and the media are calling for calm, urging people not to let politics tear friendships and families apart. As the website Contributors.ro recommends : “Let us show ourselves capable of accepting the result and democratic reality, in the name of national dialogue.” The independent webzine fears that, as of May 19, Romanians will no longer speak to each other.

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