内容摘要：A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Bureij refugee camp is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Bureij refugee camp is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

has fueled a surge in support for nationalist figures, reflecting a broader pattern seen across Europe.The AUR party says it stand for “family, nation, faith, and freedom” and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature.

To his critics, Simion is a pro-Russian extremist who threatens Romania’s longstanding alliances in the European Union and NATO. But in an AP interview last week, he rejected the accusations, saying Russia is his country’s biggest threat, and that he wants Romania to be treated as “equal partners” in Brussels.“Some fake news were saying that we want to exit the European project,” he said. “Tough luck.”Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff has narrowed to a near tie, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.

Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform. At a rally in Bucharest on Sunday, he also addressed the growing tensions.“How did it come to this, that in a country with hardworking, decent people, there is so much hatred and division, that families and circles of friends are torn apart over political opinions,” he said. “We need to project hope.”

Simion, also a former activist who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape, reducing bureaucracy and taxes. But he insists that his main goal is to restore democracy. “My platform is to return to democracy, to the will of the people,” he said.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. Voting stations set up in other countries opened on Friday.Trump has long dismissed the war as a waste of lives and American taxpayer money — a complaint he repeated Wednesday during his Cabinet meeting. That could spell an end to crucial military help for Ukraine and heavier economic sanctions on Russia.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday tried again to push both sides to move more quickly and warned that the U.S. could pull out of the negotiations if there’s no progress.“We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,” department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio as telling her.

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt to Ukraine’s mobilization effort and Western arms supplies to Kyiv.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed Wednesday that Ukraine had accepted an unconditional truce only because it was being pushed back on the battlefield, where the bigger Russian forces have the upper hand.