Donald Trump ally who's banned from Ukraine wins EU election

By Astha Saxena, Features Reporter

George Simion has won the first round of Romania’s presidential election (Image: Getty)

Hard-right nationalist George Simion has won the first round of Romania’s presidential election after a large number of residents cast their votes on Sunday. The 38-year-old firebrand leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) secured 40.5 % of the votes.

Mr Simion will now compete with centrist Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan on May 18. In a prerecorded speech, he said that Romanians had “risen up” and that he had one single objective if he took the presidency: “to give back to the Romanian people what was taken from them”.

George Simion is a huge fan of US President Donald Trump (Image: Getty)

A huge idoliser of Donald Trump and his policy of Make America Great Again (MAGA), Mr Simion has been seen donning the red MAGA cap as he boasted about his direct contact with Washington. He even described his party style as “Trumpist”.

He has expressed his willingness to have an EU of strong, sovereign nations. He told the BBC he believed in a strong NATO and was in favour of keeping NATO bases and US troops in Romania, if he becomes president.

The leader holds a controversial history with Ukraine. In 2024, he was banned from entering Ukraine for three years for what Kyiv called “systematic anti-Ukrainian activities".

However, Mr Simion has denied that he is against Ukraine or pro-Russian, arguing that he is simply pro-Romanian. He has also been repeatedly banned from Moldova, with Chișinău accusing him of endangering national security.

In 2019, he formed the AUR party after a failed bid for election to the European Parliament as an independent.

Several policies of the party are quite similar to those of Trump’s MAGA movement. The party portrays itself as pro-Christian and pro-family. It also stopped military aid to Ukraine– a step that mirrors Trump's ideology.

However, Mr Simion has frequently denounced Russia, while lashing out at Brussels and turning towards the United States.

He had said: "We’re certainly the only ones who have relations with the State Department” and other US government departments," adding that Romania’s current leaders were “incapable of opening doors”.