Romanian Prime Minister resigns following presidential election results

Romania’s Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, has announced his resignation after the results of the first round of the country’s presidential elections were released.

"In December, the ruling coalition was formed with two goals: to ensure a stable government and to present a winning candidate in the presidential elections. We have failed to achieve one of those goals. Yesterday, we saw how Romanians voted, which clearly shows the ruling coalition no longer has legitimacy," Ciolacu stated. "I proposed to my colleagues that we leave the ruling coalition, which indirectly leads to my resignation as Prime Minister—a step I will take after this meeting."

Ciolacu emphasized that he would not endorse any candidate in the upcoming second round of the election.

The first round of Romania’s presidential elections saw a victory for far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader George Simion, who secured 40.94% of the vote. Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan came in second with 20.99%. The runoff is scheduled for May 18.