Calin Georgescu, a far-right independent candidate, will enter the run-offs with almost 23% of the vote - despite polls initially suggesting he would get less than 10%.
A far-right and little-known NATO critic has won the first round of Romania's presidential election after polls predicted he would win less than 10% of the vote. Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate, won with a 22.95% share, seeing off the incumbent prime minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party , who had been the clear favourite to win the first round.
The campaign also focused on the soaring cost of living, with Romania having the EU's largest share of people at risk of poverty. Some 9.4 million people, around 52.5% of eligible voters, cast their ballots before polls closed on Sunday. According to his website, Mr Georgescu holds a doctorate in pedology, a branch of soil science, and held different positions in Romania's environment ministry in the 1990s.
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