The hard-right eurosceptic leads opinion polls before the first round of voting in the EU and NATO member state, five months after the original vote was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference. Moscow has denied the allegations.

Simion, 38, opposes military aid to neighbouring Ukraine, is critical of the EU’s leadership and has supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. A conservative Christian, he supported a failed 2018 referendum intended to prevent same-sex couples from being able to marry.