Mr Simion had been the favourite to win but lost to pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan in the final vote over the weekend.

Imagine having a president called Nicky.That's what Romanians just voted for: a softly-spoken, slightly geeky mathematician who everyone refers to by his first name, Nicusor – or Nicky.On Monday, hours after claiming victory in the elections,

Defeating populists never signals an easy return to the status quo ante.

JPMorgan said on Monday that an election win by Romania's centrist Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan is reducing political risk ahead and that a sovereign ratings downgrade to below investment grade was now less of a concern.

Romania’s finance chief said a new government will need to move quickly to fix state finances even after the election of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan as president helped soothe market turmoil that’s engulfed the Black Sea nation.

MP from the opposition party "Alliance for the Unification of Romanians" (AUR) Dan Tanase said today, May 20, in parliament that the party led by ex-presidential candidate George Simion will not participate in parliamentary consultations with President-elect Nikushor Dan.

By Luiza Ilie, Libby George and Gergely Szakacs BUCHAREST/LONDON (Reuters) -Romanian centrist Nicusor Dan may have defied the odds to win the presidency, but now he faces an even more daunting task: forming a government that can implement years of painful austerity - and revenue-raising measures - to tame Europe's widest fiscal deficit.