The European Union’s sixth most populous country is grappling with a pressing question: how did an unknown far-right leader, running without the backing of any political party, manage to win the first round of the presidential elections?

A Russia-supporting vaccine skeptic who praises his country’s WWII fascist leaders won a shock first-round victory in Romania’s presidential election.

A far-right, pro-Putin candidate just secured the most votes in the first round of Romania’s presidential election. It means the populist Călin Georgescu is in with a chance of becoming the new president of the eastern European country – and Romania’s support for Ukraine could therefore be in jeopardy.

Calin Georgescu, who has stunned Romania and its European allies by leading the first round of the eastern European country's presidential election, is a far-right, self-styled outsider critical of NATO and of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Calin Georgescu, the far-right figure who shocked Romania by taking the lead in the first round of the country's presidential election, is a pro-Russian, anti-vaxxer radical with a gift for social media.