On 10 November, Romania went to the polls to elect a new President. These elections took place in a new political scenario where the National Liberal Party, PNL (EPP) is leading the caretaker government after the government led by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) collapsed a few months ago.

Incumbent president Klaus Iohannis (PNL) obtained the highest number of votes (37%) followed by former Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă (PSD) with 22% and Dan Barna (USR-PLUS) with 15%. To see the full results (in Romanian) click here.

As none of the candidates obtained a majority, a second round of elections will be held on 24 November with Klaus Iohannis and Viorica Dăncilă facing a run-off. The turnout of this elections was the lowest registered in history as only 48% of the population went to vote. However, the turnout of the Romanian diaspora was the highest ever record – over 670,000 Romanian citizens vote abroad.

Overall, incumbent President Iohannis obtained the majority of votes in the diaspora with some exceptions such as the Netherlands and Denmark where Dan Barna came first. Barna was heavily backed up by the diaspora and became second with 27.7% of the vote share abroad.

The results of these elections confirm the momentum of the liberal alliance USR-PLUS in Romania. The strong presence of the liberal forces within and outside the country are a step towards a new beginning of the country aiming at the respect of democracy and the rule of law.

On the election results, USR party leader Dan Barna thanked the citizens that voted for him and said: “Keep voting, you can make the difference and change the balance of the second round. I am very confident in Romanians and Romania”.

https://twitter.com/DanBarnaUSR/status/1193619764788289538?s=20