The Shifting Political Tide in Romania and Hungary
The Romanian national flag in front of the parliament building in Bucharest.
Photographer: Andrei Pungovschi/BloombergHi, this is Andras Gergely in Budapest and Irina Vilcu in Bucharest. Welcome to our weekly newsletter on what’s shaping economics and investments from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. You can subscribe here.
The region is providing a thrilling finale to the global year of elections. After a turbulent couple of weeks marked by court action and allegations of foreign meddling, a TikTok-loving ultranationalist earlier known for expertise in soil science could win the runoff in Romania’s presidential election. Calin Georgescu, who has said his campaign was driven by volunteers and attributes his first-round victory to people answering a “calling,” will face a representative of pro-European Union parties.