The two years of elections in Romania functioned as a mirror of society, putting the magnifying glass on generally ignored problems, which occur even in the absence of the test given at the polls.
The last two years have brought local, European parliamentary, parliamentary and presidential elections, even twice, after the cancellation of the first presidential election in November 2024, as well as partial elections, organized right in the Capital. The electoral period prolonged by circumstances created a clearer picture of the division of Romanian society and illiberal tendencies, political scientist George Jiglău explains for “Adevărul”:
“I would say that they created the context through which these dynamics that clearly already existed in Romanian society came to light and they were very close to winning. They haven’t won yet, but there are other elections coming, that’s how it is in democracy. So that’s what I’d say the 2 years of elections have brought us. We have a clearer picture of where we really are as a society.” he explains.
“I was well aware that Romanian society tends to put its stamp on figures who were already showing signs of illiberalism and ultraconservatism and more ambiguous attitudes”
According to the political scientist, these two years have, in fact, shed light on trends that took root long before, but were ignored over the years: “We had signals from the past, but somehow we kept deceiving each other, the camps in Romanian society. I mean, we knew very well that Romanian society is conservative, we knew that it tends to put the stamp without problems on figures like Dragnea or people like them who anyway, and from the already existing parties, showed signs of illiberalism and ultraconservatism and of more ambiguous attitudes at least, if not against European-type liberal values. We had a sign, but somehow we were saying, come on, in the polls we are still 70% pro-European or look, the referendum for the family”.
A positive aspect is that the electoral test generates a clearer picture. However, the political scientist points out that these trends are not amplified by elections, but by other elements, especially the online environment: “Now, and after what happened last year with the canceled presidential elections, and after this year’s presidential elections, that the first round is not lying to us, we are there, we have a clearer picture of where we really are and we still have pieces of reality to put together, in relation to which names amplify the respective dynamics. But, in no way would I say that elections amplify these dynamics“.
“This election has put us in front of a mirror and we see ourselves as we are, as a society, extremely divided, on some extremely important values issues, with a direct impact on the way we live, and which are, in my opinion, much more important. Here we are talking about some much deeper problems, which are still manifesting and which we may not see again.” concludes the political scientist, in the context in which Romanians will be called to vote again in about three years.
The electoral table for the years 2024-2025
In the first part of the year, the European Parliament election was marked by the dominance of the PSD-PNL alliance, while at the local level, in Bucharest, the current head of state won the second term as mayor.
In the European parliamentary and local elections, organized on June 9, 2024, the PSD-PNL alliance obtained 48.55% of the votes, i.e. almost half of the votes cast, for the list of MEPs. Another star of the election was Nicolae Ștefănuță, the only independent who managed to obtain a MEP mandate and who is now vice-president of the European Parliament from the European Greens group. PSD and PNL also won the most mayoral mandates at that time (1,677 – PSD and 1,132 -PNL). Nicușor Dan, current head of state, was the big winner in the Capital, with over 40% of the votes (42.81%).
Since then, Romania has joined the European trend, already sending 8 MEPs of the far-right parties AUR and SOS Romania to the European Parliament.
The end of 2024 brought a new composition of the Parliament, with one third being members of the sovereignist parties: AUR, led by George Simion and the two new parties, SOS Romania, led by the current MEP Diana Șoșoacă, and POT, the first party to declare its support for the former independent presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, led by Anamaria Gavrilă.
However, the last two years were marked by the presidential election canceled in December 2024 and resumed in 2025, even producing violent protests in the heart of the Capital, especially after the rejection of the candidacy of Călin Georgescu, in March 2025. The second round of the presidential elections organized in May 2025 brought back the fight between two different visions, isolationism and Westernism, transforming the elections in a referendum on the direction of the country. Nicușor Dan managed to recover, after the score from the first round, 20.99% (vs. 40.96% – George Simion), ending up winning the first presidential mandate with 53.60% of the votes (vs. 46.40% – George Simion).
The last elections were the partial ones, organized including in the Capital, for a new general mayor instead of Nicușor Dan. In this election, despite the close competition in the polls, the liberal mayor of Sector 6 managed to impose himself with a score of 36.16%, at a distance of more than 10 percent from the candidate in second place, Anca Alexandrescu, who was supported by AUR and obtained 21.84%.
