Hard-Right Candidate Wins First Round of Romania’s Presidential Election

Romania, a NATO member and host to a missile defense facility built by the United States, has been thrown into political disarray by the surprise victory of a little-known ultranationalist in the first round of a presidential election held this weekend.

Official results released Monday afternoon gave the most votes to Calin Georgescu, a dark-horse candidate without a party who had been widely dismissed as a fringe extremist. Mr. Georgescu, an expert on sustainable development who has worked for the United Nations, has denounced Ukraine, NATO and the European Union, and has often sided with Russia. He has praised Romania’s fascist leader during World War II.

Despite leading, however, Mr. Georgescu took only 22.9 percent of the vote on Sunday, which is far short of the majority needed to win outright. He will therefore compete in a runoff on Dec. 8 against the second-place finisher, Elena Lasconi, a mayor and former journalist who took 19.2 percent.

Marcel Ciolacu, the center-left prime minister, came in third with just under 3,000 votes fewer than Ms. Lasconi. The vote involved a total of 14 candidates who were in general more centrist than Mr. Georgescu — as is Ms. Lasconi — suggesting he faces an uphill battle to win their voters in the second round.

The results have roiled Romanian politics just a week before a parliamentary election that will set the shape of the next government.

Romania’s president has limited powers, but they include a big say in military spending and foreign policy. Romania has been a firm supporter of Ukraine and has played a major role in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. A new alliance air base near Mihail Kogalniceanu, a village near the Black Sea, will be one of NATO’s biggest in Europe.