The elections in Bucharest, seen through the eyes of one of the most prestigious press agencies in the world: “significant” result for the far-right, but also “ammunition” for Bolojan

Bucharest elected a liberal mayor in Sunday's local elections, giving Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan the advantage in a fragile pro-European coalition and handing a defeat to a far-right candidate who was favored to win, the Reuters news agency wrote late Sunday evening, after the election for the Capital City Hall.

The influential post had been vacant since May, when centrist independent Nicușor Dan won repeated presidential elections, a year after the start of his second term as mayor, and polls showed that Bucharest was on the verge of becoming the first European Union capital led by a far-right politician.

Instead, Dan will be replaced by Ciprian Ciucu, a close ally of liberal Prime Minister Bolojan, who won around 36%, according to official preliminary results cited by Reuters at the time of publication of the article about the Bucharest poll.

Anca Alexandrescu, supported by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), an extreme-right opposition party, as the prestigious international agency catalogs the formation led by George Simion, ranked second, with approximately 22%, “a significant result for the country's largest city, which is not a bastion of the extreme-right.”

AUR, which ranks first in opinion polls, opposes military aid to neighboring Ukraine, criticizes EU leadership and supports US President Donald Trump's policies, including on energy and immigration.

The next general elections in Romania will take place in 2028.

Alexandrescu edged out leftist Social Democrat Daniel Băluță, whose party is the largest in the governing coalition and who has criticized Bolojan's plans to cut public sector jobs and costs.

“There will be a change in the balance of power within the government coalition,” said Sergiu Mișcoiu, professor of political science at Babeș-Bolyai University, for the quoted agency.

“This victory (…) gives oxygen to the Liberal Party and ensures that the government coalition will move forward,” the professor added.

Reuters also notes that the Executive is expected to survive a vote of no confidence (a motion of censure, no) at the end of this month regarding the reform of pensions in the judicial system, and Ciucu's victory, the agency believes, “gives Bolojan ammunition against future negative reactions.”

“Beyond this victory, it is probably good that this coalition will continue, the government (…) promised reforms and it is time to implement them,” Ciprian Ciucu is quoted as saying on Sunday. “I will contribute from my position at the political level to the realization of these reforms,” ​​added the liberal.

Reuters also notes that Sunday's vote took place a year after Romania canceled the presidential election due to suspicions of Russian interference in favor of a far-right candidate – a reference to Călin Georgescu, who is not named in the article.

“The annulment of the elections plunged Romania into the worst political crisis in decades, exposed the country's deep vulnerability to hybrid attacks and disinformation, divided voters, crashed markets and threatened the country's investment rating”, writes Reuters, referring to the decision of last December by the Constitutional Court.

“We voted so that things don't change for the worse,” Şerban Riga, a 46-year-old tour guide, is quoted as saying. “It seems that the extremist wave is very dangerous and we must do everything possible to stop it,” the man added.