Romania’s political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election.

With more than 99% of votes counted, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu has an unassailable lead of nearly 350,000 votes over centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the pre-election favourite, in third.

BUCHAREST - Independent candidate Calin Georgescu maintains a commanding lead in Romania's presidential election with 22.84 percent of the vote, according to near-complete results from Romania's Permanent Electoral Authority, with over 99.5 percent of ballots counted.

Calin Georgescu, who had been widely dismissed as a fringe candidate, won the most votes on Sunday with 22.9 percent. He will face a more centrist opponent in the second round on Dec. 8.

Romania is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election

Electoral data shows a far-right populist leads in Romania’s presidential election and will likely face leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in a runoff in two weeks

A hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia is set to face a centre-right opposition leader in a presidential election run-off in Romania that could undermine its pro-Western stance after a shock outcome in the first-round vote.

Calin Georgescu, who has stunned Romania and its European allies by leading the first round of the eastern European country's presidential election, is a far-right, self-styled outsider critical of NATO and of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Calin Georgescu, a prominent critic of NATO and Romania's support for Ukraine, has taken the lead in the presidential election.