BUCHAREST (Reuters) - The surprise far-right winner of the first round of Romania's presidential election has denied he wants to leave NATO and the European Union, appearing to roll back some of his positions amid protests over his victory.
Having polled in single digits before Sunday's election first round, independent rightist politician Calin Georgescu, 62, surged to a shock victory that raised questions over how such a surprise had been possible.
He will face centrist contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off on Dec. 8.
Georgescu gained most votes from young voters and Romanians living abroad and his campaign was heavily driven by TikTok.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest on Tuesday evening, chanting: "No Putin, no fear, Europe is our mother," and "Young people ask you not to vote for a dictator." Protests were also held in other major cities.
Georgescu has previously praised 1930s Romanian fascist politicians as national heroes and martyrs, has been critical of NATO and Romania's pro-Ukraine position, and has said the country should engage, not challenge Russia.
But in a stream on Facebook on Tuesday evening, he said: "I do not want to leave NATO, I do not want to leave the European Union. What I want, however, is to take a stance, not to kneel over there, not to take everything. Like I said, we should do everything in our national interest."
TIKTOK
Romania's National Audiovisual Council on Tuesday called on the European Commission to investigate the role TikTok played in the vote, due to what it said was "suspicions of manipulation of public opinion".
Council Vice President Valentin-Alexandru Jucan said it believed the platform's algorithms had amplified material favourable to a single candidate and that it had lacked transparency about who was sponsoring election content.
Neither TikTok nor the European Commission responded to requests for comment.
Influencer and businessman Stefan Mandachi, who supported Georgescu before the vote, apologised for it on Facebook on Tuesday, saying he had voted against establishment parties without researching Georgescu's stance.
Georgescu has said his campaign budget was zero and that everything was done by volunteers. Analysts and politicians have said his surprise win relative to his pre-election polling data indicated foreign interference in the election.
Prior to the vote, Romania's intelligence agency told lawmakers it had not detected signs that national security was breached.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Mara Vilcu in Gdansk, additional reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Paris, writing by Alan Charlish, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
