Centrist Party Edges Out Far-Right Challengers in Romania

Gripped by its most severe bout of political turbulence in decades, Romania has elected a new, highly fragmented Parliament divided between pro-Western centrist parties and anti-establishment nationalists who want to loosen the country’s moorings in the West.

Official results announced on Monday showed the governing Social Democrat Party taking the most votes in a legislative election held on Sunday, slowing the momentum of far-right forces invigorated by their shock victory on Nov. 24 in the opening round of a presidential election.

But the center-left Social Democrats, in and out government for decades, fell far short of a majority, taking just 22.3 percent of the vote; and a strong showing by three hard-right, Russia-friendly parties could make it difficult to form a stable government committed to keeping Romania aligned with the West.

Romania was also bracing for a decision later in the day from its constitutional court on whether to annul the first round of the presidential race, which was won by Calin Georgescu, an ultranationalist without a party. On Thursday, the court ordered a recount of presidential ballots after complaints of irregularities by one of the losing candidates.

A decision by the court to cancel Mr. Georgescu’s victory on Nov. 24 would infuriate his supporters and risk street clashes between them and antifascist activists who have been holding daily protests in cities across the country.

In the results of the parliamentary election released on Monday, AUR, a nationalist party led by a firebrand who cast himself as Romania’s Donald J. Trump, finished second with 18.2 percent, nearly double what it won in the last parliamentary election in 2020. Two small far-right groups reached the 5 percent threshold and entered Parliament for the first time. Mr. Georgescu used to be affiliated with AUR but split from it after praising a Romanian fascist leader of the 1930s.