BUCHAREST, Romania — Thousands of people gathered in Romania’s capital on Friday for a pro-European Union march. It came a week before the final vote of a closely watched presidential election that pits a hard-right nationalist front-runner against the capital\u2019s pro-EU mayor.<\/p>\n
Marchers converged in Bucharest in front of the government building, where many waved the blue and yellow flags of Europe. Many chanted slogans such as \u201cWe are in Europe\u201d and \u201cBucharest is not Budapest,\u201d referring to Hungary\u2019s Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, a member but also a longtime critic of the EU.<\/p>\n
A communist country until 1989, Romania joined the EU in 2007. But last year it was plunged into its worst political crisis in decades when a top court voided the previous election. The far-right outsider Calin Georgescu<\/a> topped the first round following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference<\/a>, which Moscow has denied.<\/p>\n The rally was held nearly a week after the first round of a presidential election redo<\/a> that saw hard-right nationalist George Simion<\/a>, 38, emerge as the front-runner. In second place was 55-year-old incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. <\/p>\n \u201cWe need to develop \u2026 we want to be like the best countries, and we don\u2019t have the possibilities on our own,\u201d said Stefan Gheorghe, a 23-year-old lawyer. \u201cYou need the European Union to help us out. It is very important to us to stay together \u2026 and to benefit from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n A median of polls ahead of the runoff suggests Simion holds a lead in the vote, which will be held between the two staunchly antiestablishment candidates on May 18. Observers have warned that the outcome could reshape the EU and NATO member country\u2019s geopolitical direction.<\/p>\n After reaching second place on Sunday night, Dan called the final vote a choice \u201cbetween a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western one.\u201d<\/p>\n