Part 2/9:
When Romanians went to the polls, incumbent President Klaus Iohannis was stepping down after two terms, and the political landscape appeared to favor traditional candidates such as Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the liberal leader Alina Gorghiu. However, the election took an unpredicted turn when Kalen Georcescu—a little-known, far-right conspiracy theorist—emerged as the frontrunner with nearly 23% of the vote, far outperforming polls that had predicted his support at around 5%. His campaign was marked by ultra-nationalism and pro-Russian sentiments, raising alarm bells about the growing influence of extremist ideologies in Romanian politics.