Who is Nicusor Dan, the pro-EU centrist who beat a nationalist in Romania’s tense presidential race?

Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan smiles while holding a stamp before casting his ballot in the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Fagaras, Romania, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduard Vinatoru)

BUCHAREST, Romania — Nicusor Dan, the former civic activist and pro-European Union centrist politician who defied the odds to decisively defeat a hard-right nationalist in Romania’s critical presidential race, has emerged as a counterforce to the right-wing populist wave sweeping across Europe.

Final results from the presidential race showed Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, winning 53.6 per cent of the vote over the hard-right candidate George Simion, who had been considered the favourite in the run-off, boosted in the first round by his nationalist messaging.

Sunday’s final vote was held months after the annulment of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades, following the surprise first-round success of far-right outsider Calin Georgescu.

In an emotional speech after he secured the presidency, Dan told thousands of supporters gathered outside his headquarters near Bucharest City Hall that “Romania begins a new chapter, and it needs every one of you.”

“It needs experts to get involved in various public policies, it needs people in civil society, it needs new people in politics,” the 55-year-old said. “We have a Romania to build together, regardless of political choices.”

Who is Nicusor Dan?

Born in 1969 in Romania’s central town of Fagaras, Dan discovered “a passion” for mathematics in middle school and excelled academically. In the late 1980s, he won gold medals at the International Mathematics Olympiad, and in 1998 he obtained a doctorate in mathematics from Paris’ prestigious Sorbonne University.

In the late 90s, he returned to Romania, saying he was convinced his country needed him. “I started organizing meetings with Romanian students in Paris in which we discussed what we could do to ensure that Romania took the right path as a country,” he states on his official website.

He then worked as a mathematics researcher at the Romanian Academy, the country’s supreme scientific body, and later founded a school in Bucharest to meet the needs of Romanian students at an international level.

Dan first rose to public prominence as a civil activist with his Save Bucharest Association. That was tasked with saving built heritage and fighting against illegal real estate projects in green spaces, in a system he described as a “real estate mafia.” He won hundreds of lawsuits.

He has two children with his partner, and is fluent in English and French.

What does Dan stand for?

More than a decade ago, Dan joined a protest movement against a controversial gold mining project by a Canadian company in a mountainous western region of Romania that contains some of Europe’s largest gold deposits. He also joined a wave of anti-corruption protests that gripped Romania through the mid-2010s.

In 2016, he then founded the reformist Save Romania Union party — at the time largely viewed as an anti-corruption party — but later left. In 2020, he successfully secured the mayorship of Bucharest and was elected for a second term last year.

He has tackled some key infrastructure projects, such as modernizing Bucharest’s ailing residential heating systems, which previous mayors have been accused of neglecting.

In the presidential election rerun, Dan ran independently on an “Honest Romania” ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform. He has also been vocal against endemic corruption and promised fiscal reforms.

Romania’s chaotic election cycle has exposed deep societal divisions, and Dan reached out in his speech Sunday evening to those who favoured Simion.

“We have a Romania to build together, regardless of political choices,” he said.

After Dan is sworn in as president, he will face the challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government, no small task in a country whose political landscape is now fragmented.

Does he have the right experience?

As winner of Sunday’s race, Dan will be charged with nominating a new prime minister after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy.

Many observers saw Sunday’s vote as crucial to maintaining Romania’s place within Western alliances, especially as the war continues in neighbouring Ukraine and the continent scrambles to arm itself as the United States’ commitment to European partners has waned under U.S. President Donald Trump.

While Dan is a staunch advocate for Romania’s strong membership of the EU and NATO, his civic and political background means he has limited foreign policy experience.

Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, says what makes Dan unique in Romania is that he’s “not taken the traditional route to being a politician, he’s coming from the civil society.”

“There are certain advantages, but there are also certain disadvantages,” he told The Associated Press. “He doesn’t really have any foreign affairs experience. I am not sure that he actually paid a lot of interest to what was happening outside Romania.”

“What I know for sure is that … even though he may not be the best, he’s probably the best of what we had in front of us.”

Stephen Mcgrath, The Associated Press