Independent candidate Nicușor Dan, who made it to the Romanian presidential runoff alongside George Simion (AUR), surpassing the candidate of the ruling coalition, Crin Antonescu, by tens of thousands of votes, stated on Sunday night that the second round will be challenging and that it will not be a debate between individuals, but a pro-Western versus anti-Western debate. „I am optimistic that we will win,” said Nicușor Dan.
"We are in the second round, currently 50,000 votes separate us from the 3rd place and the trend is irreversible, there are still 300,000 votes to be counted, it's not worth waiting tonight. I want to thank those who voted for us, I want to thank those who voted for other candidates, because it was a democratic process that Romania needed. I want to thank especially the Romanians in the Republic of Moldova, where we won with over 50%," said Nicușor Dan on Sunday night.
The independent candidate for the Romanian Presidency stated that a difficult second round will follow with the isolationist candidate.
"It will not be a debate between individuals, it will be a debate between a pro-Western direction for Romania and an anti-Western direction for Romania, that's what the second round will be about.
It is our task to convince Romanians that Romania needs the pro-Western direction and that will be the focus of our campaign in the next two weeks. And I call on all Romanians to be part of this battle.
I am optimistic that we will win, that Romania will maintain its Western direction, and I hope that with all the resources this country has, in a few years, it will be in the place it deserves," stated Nicușor Dan.
When asked by journalists how he comments on the fact that neither Crin Antonescu nor Elena Lasconi urged their voters to vote for him in the second round, Nicușor Dan replied: "It is much less important. What is important is how people will position themselves and, as I said, it will be a pro-Western, anti-Western fight, and it is our task to convince people that this is the framework in which the campaign will take place."