Putin, far-right politician who surprisingly won the first round of Romania’s presidential elections on Sunday had recently gone viral on social media without pollsters registering his surge. Călin Georgescu,

A pro-Russian critic of Nato has taken the lead in the first round of Romania’s presidential elections, in a shock result that could upend its support for Ukraine.

Romania’s presidential election was upended by a nationalist who has voiced admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, setting up a likely runoff with an establishment candidate in one of the country’s biggest upsets since the end of communism.

A little-known pro-Russian candidate won the first round of Romania’s presidential election after an unprecedented backlash against establishment candidates eliminated Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the presumed frontrunner,